94 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN VOL. XV, 



Pectoral fin : Rays. — All the specimens shewed 18 rays, except in 

 one case where there were 17 on one side and 18 on the other. Day 

 states that this species has but 17 rays in the pectoral fin ; Bleeker 

 mentions 18, but puts his formula for this fin in the form of 2/16, indi- 

 cating 2 spines and 16 rays proper. Thus the Tuticorin specimens 

 agree with Bleeker's description in this respect. 



Extent. — The extremity of the fin reaches to the 



origin of the first dorsal fin or slightly beyond it, i.e., to the I2th or 



13th scale of the lateral line. In one case it reached the 14th scale. 



Axillary scale. — An elongated scale is always 



present in the axil of the pectoral fin. 



Lateral line scries. — Every specimen shewed 39 scales in the 

 lateral line ; both Bleeker and Day record 38 only, but the differ- 

 ence is not important. 



Lateral transverse series. — 14 complete rows of scales are present 

 on each side of the body, exclusive of a subsidiary series which 

 extends only between the two dorsal fins ; no median series is 

 present between the two dorsals. One specimen shewed 13 rows on 

 the left side and 14 on the right. In this particular, the Tuticorin 

 specimens differ considerably from the descriptions of Giinther 

 and Day, both of whom give the lateral transverse series as 12. 



Origin of the dorsal fins. — The first dorsal fin originates above 

 the I2th or 13th scale of the lateral line; most commonly, the 

 second dorsal originates above the 26th scale, and occasionally the 

 25th ; Day places the origins at the I2th and 24th scales. 



Position of the anal fin. — The origin of the anal fin is opposite 

 to, or very slightly in advance of, the second dorsal fin. 



Proportions. — The total length of the body is 4% to 5 times the 

 length of the head ; this is a much more restricted range of varia- 

 tion than that given by Bleeker, viz., 4% to 5^3 ; Giinther and Day 

 give the proportion as 5 to 5%. 



The length of the head is 3% to 4 times the diameter of the 

 eye, again shewing much narrower limits of variation than those 

 allowed by Bleeker, viz., 3% to 4%. 



The length of the snout is usually 5 7 of the diameter of the 

 eye, but may be 4 / 5 to 6 7 . 



The least depth of the tail is less than Y 2 the length of the 

 head, and short of the length of the postorbital part of the head. 



The length of the pectoral fin is less than that of the head 

 by about % the length of the snout. 



