THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 137 



dorsal -jLj, of base of anal ^ of total length. Height of head fc, of body fa, of first dorsal ,',,, of 



second dorsal ,',, ofventra] ,--,, of anal ,', of the total length. 



Eyes — With adipose lids covering I of each side, with vertical elliptical openings. Horizontal 

 diameter of eye | , vertical diameter J of length of head, | of a diameter from end of snout 3 rather 

 more than 2 diameters apart. 



The upper profile is more convex than the lower. The upper surface of the lead rather 

 compressed and slightly convex from side to side. The width of the body equals two thirds its 

 height. 



Mouth small, lower jaw slightly the shortest, angle situated opposite the anterior opening of 

 the nostril. A slight tubercle at the centre of the lower jaw, fitting into a notch in the centre of 

 the upper. Preorbital truncated externally, and thin interiorly, forming a long triangle, the 

 inferior margin is nearly straight, and neither serrated or notched but with a slight roughno-s 

 along the posterior two thirds of its lower edge : its posterior margin has four or five very hue 

 serraturcs, and does not quite cover the maxilla, the angle of which is perceptible opposite the 

 anterior margin of the orbit. Intermandibular space tongue-shaped. Anterior nostril close to the 

 posterior margin of the preorbital, and some distance from the posterior nostril, which is opposite 

 the anterior superior angle of the orbit. There is a large gland opposite the centre of the vertical 

 border of the preopercle, another just above its angle, and three above its horizontal border. 

 Several other wide glandular openings exist on various parts of the head, and many fine longitudinal 

 grooves. 



Teeth — None apparent : on each side of the vomer is a transverse tubercle. 



Fins — Pectoral obtuse, almost entirely situated in the upper half of the body, the lowest ray 

 equal to a fourth the length of the highest, the fin extends to opposite the eleventh scale of the 

 lateral line. Ventral commences opposite the last fourth of the pectoral, its spine is weak, and 

 the first ray sometimes prolonged. First dorsal begins midway between the snout and the base 

 of the external ray of the caudal, and about opposite the tip of the ventral spine, and the twelfth 

 scale of the lateral line : it is highest in front : the three anterior rays arise close together, the 

 fourth is distant rather above half its height from the third and is more than a third shorter than 

 the first. Second dorsal commences midway between the origin of the first dorsal and the base 

 of the external caudal ray, opposite the twenty-fifth scale of the lateral line : its anterior margin 

 is the highest, its superior border concave, and its last ray double and elongated : its spine is half 

 the height of the first ray. Anal arises opposite the second dorsal, its spines are weak, the first 

 half as long as the second, which is nearly a third less than the third, and the first ray is twice its 

 length : the form of the fin is like that of the second dorsal. Caudal emarginate. 



Scales — Not very regular in size, they cover the body, head, cheeks, and lower jaw. Some 

 fine ones exist in the adult, on the rays of the pectoral, ventral, and caudal fins, and on the 

 anterior margins of the second dorsal and anal. Each scale has a smooth edge equal to about a 

 fifth of its exposed portion ; along the mesial line there is a narrow furrow, generally running 

 longitudinally, and extending for four fifths of the exposed part. Below the pectoral fin these 

 lines run very irregularly (except in the two or three lowest rows where they are longitudinal) 

 some being vertical and some oblique. There is a long scale at the base of the first dorsal, also 

 a large axillary one, and another elongated one at the base of the ventral. 



Colours — Bluish silvery-green on the back and sides, becoming silvery white on the abdomen. 

 Each row of scales marked by a broad parallel longitudinal line, equal to a third of its width, aud 

 darkest at their bases. Cheeks and opercles shining silvery, the latter with steel blue reflections, 



T 



