102 THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 



there is a fourth at the base of the caudal. Pectoral and caudal yellow. Dorsal, ventral, and anal 

 black. Eye golden. The bauds become more indistinct as the age of the fish increases. 



Grows to eight inches in length. 



Habitat — Eed Sea, Seas of India, Malaysia, and China. 



Genus EQUULA, Cuvier. 



Branchiostegals, from four to five : pseudobranchia?. Body oblong or elevated, more or less compressed. 

 Eyes lateral. Mouth very protractile. Lower margin of preopercle serrated. Infraorbital bones do not 

 articulate with the preopercle. One dorsal with from eight to ten spines, and fifteen to seventeen rays : anal 

 with three spines, and from thirteen to fourteen rays. Edges of back and abdomen dentated along the base 

 of the fins. "Ventrals thoracic. Minute teeth on jaws, none on the palate. Scales cycloid, small, 

 deciduous. Lateral line continuous, unarmed : in some species ceasing abruptly beyond the end of the 

 dorsal fin. Air bladder ending posteriorly in two horns. Pyloric appendages few. 



Equula INSIDIATRIX. 



Zeus insidiator, Bl. t. 192, f. 2-3. 



Equula insidiatrix, Cuv. & Vol. x. p. 98; Cantor, Catal. p. 151; Giinther, Catal. 



ii. p. 504. 

 Paarl coorchee, Mai. 



B. iv. D 8 ff. P. 15. V. l A. &. C. 19. 



Length of head \, of pectoral \, of caudal \, of base of dorsal J, of base of anal § of total 

 length. Height of head \, of body §, of hard dorsal y^, of soft dorsal ^, of anal spines ^, of 

 anal rays ^ of total length. The ventral is of various lengths in different specimens, being some- 

 times prolonged. 



Eyes — Diameter nearly J length of head, 1J diameters from end of snout, nearly 1 diameter 

 apart. 



Body oval, and compressed, abdominal profile much more convex than that of the back. 



Mouth — Placed horizontally, the opening small, intermaxillaries very protractile, equal to one- 

 eighth of the length of the body : when fully protracted the mouth is still slightly directed 

 upwards, and when closed the mandibula is quite vertical ; the interorbital space, or rather the cavity 

 on the summit of the head, is triangular ; the middle third of the superciliary margin is finely 

 serrated. The two supraorbital spines are small but distinctly visible and directed backwards, the 

 external being the strongest ; the lower preopercular margin is finely serrated, the serratures being 

 largest anteriorly. Nostrils close to orbit. 



Teeth — Minute in the jaws. 



Fins — The dorsal is placed over the centre of the pectorals, and the ventral on a line with it. 

 The anal commences opposite the soft portion of the dorsal. The first dorsal spine is small, the 

 second wide, compressed, and the longest of all. The pectoral is rather pointed, the ventral 

 minute, and the caudal deeply lobed. The second anal spine is rather strong, sharp, and much the 

 longest and strongest, the first is the smallest. 



Scales — Very minute. 



Lateral line — Passes nearly level with the back but approaching it, and is generally lost near 

 the tail, but sometimes as far forwards as below the last third of the dorsal fin. 



