122 THE FISHES OF MALABAE. 



Anterior dorsal spine short, having a cuneiform extremity. Cutaneous fringes not numerous. 



Skin rough, covered with small spines. 



Colours — Violet or red, with yellowish or nacreous spots, one below the posterior portion 

 of the dorsal fin being the largest. Abdomen with numerous brown spots. Fins marbled with 

 brown. 



Habitat — Red Sea, Seas of India and Malaysia. 



Gobioidei, pt., Cuvier. 

 Blennioidei, M'dller. 



Fam. BLENNIIDiE, Owen. 



Genus SAL ARIAS, Cuvier. 



Branchiostegals, six : pseudobranchiae. Body moderately elongated. Eyes lateral. Cleft of mouth 

 transverse, snout short. The infraorbital bones do not articulate with the preopercle. One dorsal, 

 occupying most of the extent of the back, in some species divided into two by a notch. Anal fin long. 

 Ventrals jugular, with a hidden spine and from two to four rays. Tentacle above orbit more or less 

 developed. Teeth small, numerous, moveable in the jaws where they are implanted into the gums, usually 

 a curved canine on either side of lower jaw behind the smaller rows. Palate usually smooth. Skin 

 naked. Gill openings wide. Air bladder and pyloric appendages absent. 



Salaeias FASCIATUS. 



Blennius fasciatus, Bloch, p. 1076, t. 162, f. 1. 



Salaeias fasciatus, Cuv. & Vol. xi. p. 324 ; Giinther, Catal. iii. p. 244. 



B. vi. D. if P- 15- V. J. A. 24. C. 11. 



Length of head - 6 , of pectoral \, of caudal \, of base of dorsal §, of base of anal ^ of total 

 length. Height of head \, of body \, of hard dorsal ^> of soft dorsal |, of ventral }, of anal j\ 

 of total length. 



Eyes — Upper margins close to profile, diameter | length of head, £ of a diameter apart, 1 dia- 

 meter from end of the snout. 



Body elongated, almost rhomboidal, largest in front, where the head has a rounded external 

 profile, which is considerably sloped, forming a curve from the snout to the first dorsal. Mouth 

 almost on the lower surface. From the commencement of the dorsal to that of the caudal the line 

 of the profile is straight, and is parallel to the abdominal surface. 



Mouth anterior and very low down : its gape extends one-third the distance to the orbit, and 

 the posterior extremity of the maxilla to beneath the orbit. Opercle rounded posteriorly. Pre- 

 opercle wide, with a rounded angle. Two elongated simple tentacles arise between the orbits, on 

 the anterior half of the head. Gill openings very small, situated above and in front of the pectoral 

 fin. 



Teeth — A single row of fine ones in each jaw, two large recurved sharp canines in lower jaw. 



Fins — Dorsal arises over the opercle : pectoral opposite the fourth dorsal spine : ventral 

 in front of it : anal opposite the commencement of the soft dorsal. Dorsal spines weak, 

 membrane scarcely emarginate, the third spine higher than the first two, from whence they 



