Upeneus trifasciatus, _Cuv. et Val._ Hist. des Poiss. tom. iii. p. 344.
FORM.—General form resembling that of the _Mullus Surmuletus_, but the
snout more elongated. Greatest depth contained about four times and
a half in the entire length. Head exactly one-fourth of the same.
Eyes small, distant three diameters from the end of the snout.
Suborbitals with a moderate number of pores on their disk, but
without any salient lines. Posterior extremity of the maxillary
broad. A single row of conical teeth in each jaw, very uniform in
size, not very large or very close; about twenty-two above and
twenty below. Spine of the opercle about a line in length. Barbules
reaching to, or a little beyond, the posterior margin of the
opercle. Lateral line not much ramified. Height of the first dorsal
equalling more than half the depth. Space between the two dorsals
equalling one-third the length of the second dorsal. Both this last
fin and the anal terminating in a considerable point behind.
Ventrals large, reaching very nearly to the anal.
D. 8—9; A. 7; C. 15, &c.; P. 16; V. 1/5.
Length 7 inches 9 lines.
COLOUR.—(_In spirits._) Dark brownish yellow, with faint indications
of three dusky patches or abbreviated transverse fasciæ, one beneath
each dorsal, and the third on each side of the upper part of the
tail. Second dorsal and anal crossed by several whitish longitudinal
lines; the posterior point of each fin nearly black.
This species was obtained by Mr. Darwin at Tahiti. It is probably the
_U. trifasciatus_ of Cuvier and Valenciennes, who received their
specimens from the Carolinas and Sandwich Islands. But it does not so
well accord with the _Mulle multibande_ of Quoy and Gaimard, which is
supposed by the authors of the “Histoire des Poissons,” to be the same
as their species. If the figure in the Zoology of “Freycinet’s Voyage”
be correct, the _Mulle multibande_ has the nostrils much smaller, and
the spines of the first dorsal much stronger; the ventrals also are
relatively much shorter, so as to reach very little more than half-way
to the anal. Future observation must determine whether the two fish are
distinct or not.