Holacanthus

Holacanthus, a genus of fishes, in characters and distribution similar to the Chetodonts (q.v.). They are remarkable for the great beauty and symmetry of their colours, and for their excellence as articles of food. The body is compressed, and the gill-cover bears a strong spine. One of the best known of the forty species, called Emperor of Japan by the Dutch, is H. imperator, one of the most esteemed fishes of the East Indies, rivaling the salmon in flavour. Its greatest size is about 15 inches long; its colour is deep blue, with numerous narrow bands of orange, the pectoral fins black, the tail bright yellow. In beauty it is rivalled by an allied species, H. diacanthus, of similar distribution.