108 THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 



colour : a black spot exists on the upper and posterior part of opercle. Fins diaphanous, marginal 

 halves of dorsals and caudal minutely dotted with black. Iris silvery, upper portion darkish. 



Grows to ten inches in length, is eaten by the Natives either fresh or salted, but is insipid. 

 It appears in Malabar in shoals during the months of February and March. 



Habitat — Seas of India, Malaysia, and China. 



Genus PEMPHERIS, Guv. and Vol. 



Branchiostegals, seven : pseudobranchite. Body oblong, compressed. Eyes large, lateral. Cleft of 

 mouth oblique, lower jaw prominent, snout short. Opercle with a small spine. Infraorbital bones do not 

 articulate with the preopercle. One short elevated dorsal with five or six spines and from nine to ten 

 rays. Anal elongated, with three spines, scaly. Villiform teeth in jaws, vomer, and palatine bones. 

 Scales of moderate size, or small. Lateral line simple. Air bladder divided into an anterior and posterior 

 portion. Pyloric appendages in moderate numbers. 



* Pempheris Molucca. 



Pempheris Molucca, Guv. & Vol, vii. p. 306; Cantor, Catal. p. 175; Giiniher, Catal. 



ii. p. 509. 

 Pempheris Malabarica, Guv. & Vol. vii. p. 308. 



B. vii. D. f. P. 19. V. l A. 4J46. C. 17. L. 1. 60. 



Length of head ^ of total length. Height of body \ of total length. 



Byes — Nearer to the snout than to the gill opening. Diameter nearly J length of head. 



The profile between the eyes is somewhat concave, owing to a projection of the upper margin 

 of the orbit, impinging on the line of the profile. 



Teeth — Villiform in jaws, vomer, and palatine bones. 



Colours — Violet brown above, fading to silvery on the abdomen and with golden reflections. 

 Fins rose colour or reddish yellow, upper half of dorsal spines and membrane of a dark brown. 

 Axil and base of pectoral white. Iris with a golden rim round the pupil. 



Grows to six inches in length. 



Habitat — Seas of India, Malaysia, the Moluccas, and Japan. 



Fam. GOBIIDiE, Owen. 



Gobioidei, pt. Cuvier. 



Branchiostegals, five: pseudobranchire. Body low, and elongated. Infraorbital bones do not 

 articulate with the preopercle. Two dorsal fins, the anterior with from five to nine flexible spines, the 

 posterior soft the most developed and of the same character as the anal. Ventrals each with one spine 

 and five rays united, the two forming a disk. Teeth in several rows in the jaws, canines present in some 

 species. Anal papilla generally distinct. Gill openings of moderate width, the membranes united to the 

 isthmus. Scales over the body or absent. Air bladder small or absent. Pyloric appendages none. 



