208 THE FISHES OF MALABAE. 



Sub-Fam. BARBINI, Bleeker. 

 Geoup systomi, Bleeker. 



Genus PUNTIUS, Earn. Buck 



Systomus, McClelland. 

 Baebodes, Bleeker. 

 Copoeta, Cuv. & Vol. 



Branchiostegals, three: pseudobranchiae. Body oblong, sometimes compressed: abdomen more or 

 less flat. Mouth destitute of teeth, it is of moderate size, and directed forwards : jaws slightly protrusible, 

 the lower jaw the shortest ; both are covered by the lips. Snout short. Preorbital pentagonal, not elon- 

 gated, directed upwards, backwards, or downwards, but never directly anteriorly. Lips of the two jaws 

 continuous, with the postlabial sulcus simple, and parallel with the margin of the jaws. Cirri four (Bar- 

 bodes, Bleeker), one pair on snout, one on maxilla? : or two (Capoeta, Cuv. & Val.) on the supramaxilkries : 

 or none (Puntius, Ham. Bueh.). Pharyngeal teeth spoon-shaped summits 2,3,5 | 5,3,2 : or 2,3,3 | 4,3,2 ; 

 or with tubercular summits 1,3,4 | 4.3,1, or 2,3,4 | 4,3,2. Dorsal fin situated from before to hardly posterior 

 to the commencement of the ventral, with a row of scales along its base : its first few rays are unbranehed, 

 and either osseous and serrated, or osseous and entire, or cartilaginous, or have the extremities of all pro- 

 longed into filaments. Anal short, with a scaly base. Caudal also with some scales over its base. Scales 

 moderate, cycloid. Lateral line usually continuous, or it may abruptly cease as in the Puntius vittatus, p. 215. 



With four cirri (Barbodes, Bleeker.) 



1. Unbranehed dorsal rays osseous, and the last serrated posteriorly. 



Puntius cheysopoma. 



Baebus cheysopoma, Cuv. & Val. xvi. p. 165, pi. 466. 

 Baebus gibbosus, Cuv. & Val. xv. p. 155. 

 Systomus cheysopoma, Jerdon, Madras Journal, xv. p. 314. 

 Munduttee, Mai. 



B. iii. D. f . P. 15. V. 9. A. §. C. 19. L. 1. 28. L. fcr. f . 



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

 length. Height of head \ } of body f , of dorsal \, of ventral \ , of anal \ of total length. 



Eyes— Diameter in the immature f, in the adult \ of length of head, l\ diameters from end 

 of snout, 2 diameters apart. 



Body elongated, a considerable rise from snout to the occiput, from whence to the dorsal it is 

 more gradual, and from that fin to the caudal the profile gradually sinks. Abdominal profile is 

 as convex as that of the back. 



Snout short, slightly protractile : the posterior extremity of the maxilla extends to beneath 

 the anterior margin of the orbit. Preopercle, posterior limb vertical, its angle rounded, its lower 

 linib horizontal. Opercle irregularly triangular, its posterior margin convex, its upper short and 

 horizontal. Subopercle rather more than one third as high as long. Interopercle with a rather 

 irregularly lower margin. Upper surface of head smooth, rather convex, and divided from the 

 snout by a transverse and moderately deep groove. Nasal cirri equal to two-thirds the diameter 

 of the orbit in length, and the maxillary cirri rather longer. Nostrils opposite the anterior superior 

 angle of the orbit. 



