200 THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 



Saurida TUMBIL. 

 Salmo TUMBIL, Block, t. 430. 

 Badi mottah, Russell, pi. 172. 



Saurida tombil, Cuv. & Vol. xxii. p. 500; Cantor, Catal. pp. 270, 442. 

 Saurida tumbil, Gilnther, Catal. v. p. 399; 

 Arranna, Mai. 



B. xiii. D. 12 | 0. P. 16. V. 10. A. 10. C. 19. L. 1. 53-64. L. tr. f. 



Length of head ■^ I , of pectoral ^, of caudal £-, of base of first dorsal ^, of base of adipose dorsal 

 about -^, of base of anal ^ of total length. Height of head Jj-, of body T 2 3 , of first dorsal \, of 

 adipose dorsal about ^ 7 , of ventral \, of anal ^ of total length. 



Eyes — Oval, with broad adipose lids j upper margins close to the profile : horizontal dia- 

 meter A, vertical diameter } of length of head, l\ diameters from end of snout, 1 \ diameters 



apart. 



Body elongated, sub-cylindrical ; head compressed. A raised keel of scales along either side 



of the body. 



Cleft of mouth very wide, extending to nearly one diameter behind the posterior margin of 

 the orbit. Posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches nearly to the angle of the preopercle. 

 Intermaxillaries very long, tapering, extending to the angle of the mouth, and crowded with 

 teeth. Mandibulas broad, shallow, tapering almost to a point in front, and crowded with teeth. 

 Lips absent. Posterior margin of the preopercle rather oblique, and convex. Opercles rounded. 

 Preorbital and anterior suborbitals, festooned in radiating ridges, arising from two points, the 

 anterior under the snout, the posterior under the centre of the orbit. Interorbital space and 

 centre of the summit of head with rather a broad, shallow, longitudinal groove. Nostrils double. 



Teeth — Several rows of card-like teeth in the upper jaw, the internal the largest, and the 

 external smallest : the surface of the intermaxillaries on which they are placed is bevilled off, so 

 as to look outwards. The teeth on the mandibulas are of the same character as the largest internal 

 and smallest external rows : they are more numerous than in the upper jaw, and placed on a 

 surface looking upwards and outwards. Teeth on palate in two distinct rows, the internal series 

 in each of which is the largest, whilst the inner is only one-third the length of the outer row. A 

 small round patch of teeth on the vomer. 



Fins — Pectoral commences rather behind the opercles, and opposite the angle of the 

 mouth ; first dorsal in the centre of the body, its anterior extremity being as far from the snout as 

 its posterior is from the root of the caudal : ventral arises midway between the end of the pectoral 

 and the commencement of the dorsal ; and the anal midway between the end of the ventral and 

 the base of the caudal : the adipose dorsal is situated over the last two anal rays. The second 

 ray of the first dorsal is undivided and the longest, the last being not quite a third as long : upper 

 margin of the fin concave, the last ray rather prolonged. Ventral placed horizontally, with a long 

 elongated scale at its base, the last ray the longest. Anal with the second ray the longest. Caudal 

 deeply forked, the upper lobe sometimes the longest. 



Scales — With their exposed portions higher than wide : they are present over the body and 

 head, with some on the base of the caudal fin. A broad triangular scale exists in the axilla. 



Lateral line— Eather nearer the back than the abdomen, and on the sixth row of scales. The 

 number of scales on this row appears to vary ; in several specimens examined at Cochin none had 

 more than fifty-six. The keel is most developed in the posterior third of the body. 



