THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 167 



Genus HEMIRAMPHUS, Cuvier. 



Brauchiostegals, about twelve or thirteen. Body subcylindrical and elongated. Eyes lateral. Upper 

 jaw very short, formed by the intermaxillaries, the symphysis of the lower jaw extended into a long beak, 

 at upper and posterior portion of which beneath the upper jaw is the margin of the mouth. A single dorsal 

 situated in the posterior portion of the body opposite to an anal of a similar description. Ventral six- 

 rayed, anterior to the dorsal. Caudal generally lobed, the lower usually the longest. Teeth villiform m both 

 jaws in several rows. Scales of moderate size or large. Gill openings very wide. Air vessel large. No 

 csecal appendages. 



Hemiramphus Reynaldi. 



Hemieamphus Reynaldi, Cuv. & Val. xix. p. 39. 

 Morrul, Mai. 



B. xii. D. 16. P. 12. V. 6. A. 15. C. 15. L. 1. 50-58. L. tr. 6-7. 



Length of head excluding beak nearly \, including beak \, of pectoral \, of caudal \, of base 

 of dorsal 1 of base of anal \ of total length. Height of head fo of bod y h of dorsal T5> of 

 ventral T L, of anal -^ of total length. 



Byes— Oval, superior margins close to profile. Horizontal diameter J, and vertical diameter ¥ , 

 1 horizontal diameter to end of snout, f of a horizontal diameter apart in the centre, but further 



posteriorly. 



Body elongated, moderately compressed, head slightly depressed. 



The intermaxillaries form an obtuse triangle, the base behind, the apex in front, rounded, and 

 its length a fourth less than its width at its base: a furrow passes longitudinally down its centre, 

 its edges are slightly raised, and its external margin is a little convex at its centre. The posterior 

 extremity of the maxilla reaches to opposite the anterior margin of the orbit. The width of the 

 mouth is a fourth greater than its length, and the length of the beak from the end of the inter- 

 maxillaries to the tip, is equal to the length from the base of the pectoral to the anterior extremity 

 of the mouth, consequently the end of the snout is midway between the base of the pectoral and 

 the tip of the beak : it is thin and straight. From the centre of the beak at its base, a ridge 

 arises which from its first third is continued along the upper surface of the beak in the form of a 

 groove as far as its tip. Interorbital space flat. Preopercle rectangidar, angle slightly produced. 

 Opercle a third higher than wide, and all the edges nearly straight. The openings of the nostrils 

 are placed in a shallow oval depression, in front and rather internal to the upper margms of the 



orbit. 



Teet h— Villiform, placed in close bands, wider in the mandibular than in the upper jaw. 

 Opposite the centre of the lower jaw there is a short edentulous interval where a ridge exists. 



Fins— Pectoral arises a short distance posterior to, and on a level with, the superior margin 

 of the opercle : ventral commences midway between the anterior margin of the orbit and the 

 base of the caudal : anal arises the width of one scale nearer the caudal than it does to the ventral, 

 and is slightly behind the dorsal. Dorsal highest in front, upper margin rather concave : anal of 

 the same shape. Caudal lobed, the lower a third longer and much larger than the upper. 



Scales — Deciduous, covering the body and summit of head. 



Lateral line— Proceeds parallel to the abdomen, passing just above the ventral, and two scales 

 above the anal, from whence it reaches the centre of the fin by crossing the base of the upper ray 

 of the lower lobe. 



