100 THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 



concave, and in its last third is parallel to the curve of the back. The anal is of the same form as 

 the dorsal, but not so concave. The ventral spines are short and strong, each one tenth the length 

 of head ; at their base both are in contact, but their points diverge ; they can be received into a 

 groove. The caudal is broad and very slightly emarginate, sometimes square. The pectoral 

 rounded. 



Scales — Small and rather adherent ; from an irregular line commencing at the centre of the 

 opercle to the caudal passing upwards and backwards : below the line they proceed downwards and 

 backwards. They cover almost the whole of the dorsal and anal fins, also the base of the caudal, 

 the opercles, the cheeks, and summit of the head as far as the snout. 



Lateral line — Forms a long irregular curve in the upper half of the body; from opposite the 

 last four dorsal rays it passes straight. 



Colours — Silvery with purplish reflections, especially about the anal fin : the back is of a 

 yellowish green, which after death rapidly assumes a leaden hue. One rather wide black band 

 passes directly downwards from the nape to the centre of the eye ; a second from opposite the 

 three first hard rays of the dorsal fin as far as the opercle. Some of the dorsal is stained with 

 black, as is also the anterior portion of the anal, though to a less extent. Pectoral and ventral 

 colourless : caudal yellow. 



Is most common in Malabar during the monsoon months. Grows to about seven inches m 



length. 



Habitat — Red Sea, Seas of India, to the coasts of Australia and Polynesia. 



PsETTUS FALCIFOEMIS. 



Monodactylus falciformis. Lacep. iii. pp. 131, 132, 133. 



PSETTUS COMMERSONII, CuV. & Veil. vii. p. 250. 



Psettus falciformis, Gunther, Catal. ii. p. 488. 



PURRANDEE, Mai. 



B. vi. D. gy.Vy. P. 17. A. <jV C. 17. L. r. upwards of 120. 



Length of head \ } of pectoral \, of base of dorsal i, of base of anal J of total length. Extreme 

 height 1^, height of head ^, of body £, of dorsal \, of anal ^ of total length. 



Eyes — Diameter J length of head, ^ of a diameter from end of snout, ^ s of a diameter apart. 



Jaws of equal length. The maxilla extends to below the anterior half of the orbit ; the pre- 

 orbital is narrow and festooned ; the vertical border of the preopercle entire, and passing rather 

 backwards : the angle produced, rounded, and very finely serrated : inferior margin rather oblique, 

 and four fifths of the length of the vertical margin : the opercle has an obtuse spine ; the distance 

 from the angle of the orbit to that of the preopercle equals more than half the length of the 

 pectoral fin. 



Fins — The pectoral rounded : the dorsal commences above its centre, and the ventral beneath 

 its base. The anal arises opposite the first dorsal ray. The dorsal is elevated in front, then 

 concave, and its last quarter is parallel to the curve of the back. The anal somewhat resembles 

 the dorsal, but is not so concave, and for its last two thirds its margin is parallel to the line of the 

 abdomen. Caudal deeply lunated. Ventrals as in the last species. 



Scales — Disposed as in the last species, and the fins scaled in the same manner. 



