_T. sordidè metallico-olivaceus, maculis circularibus albis; ventre
albo, lineis olivaceis longitudinalibus, haud admodum turgido:
corpore suboblongo, magnâ ex parte lævissimo, ventre solum muricato:
maxillis subæqualibus: naribus tubulosis, bifurcatis: lineâ laterali
distinctâ, parum tortuosâ: pinnâ dorsali anali paulo anteriore:
pinnâ caudali æquali._
D. 10; A. 10; C. 11; P. 16.
LONG. unc. 4. lin. 9.
FORM.—Approaching to oblong, the belly a little ventricose. Head not
so short as in the last species, nor yet much produced. Body every
where smooth, excepting the middle of the abdomen from beneath the
pectorals to the vent, and not very prickly here. Top of the head
slightly depressed between the eyes. Jaws nearly equal; the upper
one, if any thing, a very little in advance. Nostrils tubular, the
tubes forked from the bottom into two equal branches. The lateral
line, which is very distinct, commences behind the mouth, whence it
passes under and partly encircles the eye, then arches upwards,
making a long sweep, and not descending till it gets above the anal,
whence it proceeds nearly along the middle towards the caudal, but
loses itself before attaining to that fin. Dorsal fin rather in
advance of the anal. Caudal square.
COLOUR.—“Dirty metallic olive-green, with white circular spots; belly
white, with streaks of the same colour as the back.”—D. The spots
extend on to the basal half of the caudal, but are smaller here than
on the body. A white annulus encircles each eye, and a similar one
is described round the base of each pectoral. The abdominal streaks
run very exactly parallel with the axis of the body, not obliquely
as in the last species.
Habitat, Keeling Islands, Indian Ocean.
I can find no species noticed by authors exactly corresponding with the
one described above, which was obtained by Mr. Darwin at the Keeling
Islands. The form is similar to that of the _T. Honckenii_ of
Rüppell,[48] but the colours appear different. On the other hand, the
markings resemble those of the _T. testudineus_ of Bloch, but that
species is rough all over.