THE I'Isiiks OF MALABAR. Hi;! 



from opposite the commencement of the dorsal fin to the centre of the caudal. Tip of beafi of a 

 brilliant scarlet. Dorsal and caudal margined with black. Some fine black points below the 

 caudal rays. 



Occasionally arrives in vast numbers at Cochin, and is captured at the mouth of the river, in 

 the backwater, and even in fresh water. Grows to about eight inches in length. 



Habitat— Seas, estuaries, and sometimes fresh waters of Malabar and Malaysia. 



Hemiramphus limbatus. 

 Hemieamphus limbatus, Guv. & Vol. xix. p. 44. 



B. xii. D. 15. P. 12. V. 6. A. 13-15. C. 15. L. 1. 52. L. tr. 7. 



Length of head excluding beak \, of head including beak f, of pectoral T ' , of caudal &, of 

 base of dorsal \, of base of anal ^ f total length. Height of head jfe of body T ' r , of dorsal X , 

 of ventral 5 V/, of anal about ^ of total length. 



Eyes— Oval, upper margins close to the profile. Horizontal diameter T 3 ff , vertical diameter ] 

 of length of head, 1 transverse diameter from end of snout, and nearly the same distance apart. 



The body of the same character as in the previous specimens. 



The intermaxillaries form a triangle, the base being behind and a third wider than it is long, 

 having a longitudinal ridge above, and a slight elevation along its margins : its anterior extremity 

 not quite pointed. The posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches half way from the angle of the 

 mouth to the orbit : the width at its gape slightly exceeds the length of the mouth. The length of 

 the beak from the end of intermaxillaries to its tip, equals the distance from the centre of the opercle 

 to the end of the intermaxillaries, consequently the anterior extremity of the mouth is midway 

 between the centre of the opercle and end of beak. Beak weak, and curving in its middle for one 

 third of its length. A very slight ridge at the symphysis, where the two portions of the lower jaw 

 join : a groove along its centre. Interorbital space flat. Preopercle rectangular. Opercle nearly 

 triangular, becoming pointed just above its centre, its width is nearly equal to its height. Nostrils 

 in very shallow oval depressions, at anterior superior margin of orbit. 



Teeth— In villiform bands, widest in the upper, being narrow in the anterior portion of the 

 lower jaw, with a slight interval between those of the two sides. 



Fins— Pectoral pointed, and arising just above the posterior angle of the opercle : dorsal oppo- 

 site the thirty-first scale, and slightly in advance of the anal: both fins are highest in front- 

 ventral midway between the posterior margin of the orbit and the base of the caudal. Caudal 

 with its posterior margin rounded, and its lower portion, which can scarcely be termed a lobe, the 

 longest. 



Scales — As in the H. Reynaldi. 



Lateral line — As in the H. Reynaldi. 



Colours— Silvery, greenish blue on the back, and whitish grey on the abdomen. The silver 

 band is widest opposite the commencement of the dorsal fin, and quite straight, but rather indis- 

 tinct under the scales. Caudal and dorsal finely edged with black, small black points between 

 the rays. Intermaxillaries and mandibular black. A black mark along the branches of the lower 

 jaw. Pectoral, ventral, and anal colourless. 



Habitat — Seas of India. 



