20 THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 



its second and fourth rays. Caudal white, with one brown central bar and two oblique ones 

 across either lobe. Ventral white. Pectoral yellow. 



Common, not esteemed as food, grows to six inches in length. 



Habitat — Seas and estuaries of India, China, and South Africa. 



Genus PKISTIPOMA, Cuvier. 



Branchiostegals, seven : pseudobranchiee. Body oblong, compressed. Eyes of moderate size. Mouth 

 horizontal, not very wide, jaws nearly equal, a central groove below the chin. One dorsal with from eleven to 

 fourteen spines, anal with three ; vertical fins without scales or only at their bases. Preopercle serrated, 

 opercle with indistinct points. Villiform teeth in both jaws, no canines. Scales moderate. Air bladder 

 simple. Pyloric appendages in small number. 



Peistipoma hasta. 



Lutjanus hasta, Block, t. 246, f. 1. 



Peistipoma kaakan, Cuv. & Vol. v. p. 244. 



Pristipoma commeesonii, Guv. & Vol. v. p. 252 ; Cantor, Catal. p. 72. 



Pristipoma hasta, Guv. & Vol. v. p. 247 ; Giinther, Catal. i. p. 289. 



Pristipoma chrysobalion, Cuv. & Vol. v. p. 248. 



B.vii. D.jf. P- 17. V. \. A. T %. C. 17. L. 1. 47. L. tr. -&. 



Length of head f , of pectoral \, of caudal ^-, of base of dorsal f , of base of anal ^ of total 

 length. Height of head \, of body ^, of hard dorsal i, of soft dorsal \, of ventral \, of anal \ of 

 total length. 



Byes — Transversely oval, horizontal diameter T 3 ff , vertical diameter \ in length of head, 

 li_ diameter apart, 1 diameter from end of snout. 



Maxilla reaches to beneath the anterior margin of orbit. Preopercle rather deeply emarginate, 

 serrated in its whole extent, angle rounded, produced, and having the coarsest serratures. Sub- 

 and interopercles entire. Opercle ending in two rounded points, connected by a crescentic margin. 

 Preorbital entire. Suprascapular and coracoid bones serrated. A deep groove beneath the centre 

 of lower jaw. 



Teeth — A 7 illiform in jaws, with an external conical series, also some large ones in each inter- 

 maxillary. 



Fins — Spinous portion of dorsal fin two-thirds of its entire length, fourth spine the longest. 

 Ventral spine moderately strong. Second anal spine longest and strongest, nearly four times as 

 long as first, and one-third longer than the third. 



Scales — On body opercles, preorbital, and interorbital space : those above the lateral line are 

 smaller than those below it. 



Lateral line — Follows the curve of the back. 



Colours — Generally silvered, with a beautiful purplish violet reflection along the whole of the 

 nape and back. Pre- and suborbital space greenish golden. Opercle with a large black mark on 

 its most posterior portion. A series of three or four lines of blotches of a dark grey colour exists 

 along the sides, two above the lateral line, one on it, and one below it, sometimes coalescing 

 and forming bands, but these marks are generally more apparent in the dry than in the fresh fish. 

 Fins diaphanous, the dorsal sometimes stained yellow, margined with black, and having two or 

 three rows of brownish black spots between its spines, which are sometimes extended on to 



