210 THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 



Lateral line — In single distinct tubes in each scale : it first descends slightly for six scales, 

 and opposite the centre of the opercle passes direct to the caudal. 



Colours — Silvery, with a large diffused black spot on the lateral line, extending from the 

 twenty-fourth to the twenty-eighth scale. A red spot on opercle. Dorsal and pectoral tinged 

 with red, and minutely spotted with black, as are also the bases of the scales and the various pieces 

 of the opercles. External half of ventral bright orange- scarlet ; anal tipped with red : both 

 minutely dotted with black. Caudal stained with black. 



From a small pond in Cochin. 



Habitat — Fresh waters of Malabar. 



2. Unbranched dorsal rays cartilaginous, and articulated in their whole extent. 



Puntius melanampyx. Plate XVI. Fig. 1. 

 Labeo melanampyx, Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1865, p. 298. 



B. iii. D. f. P. 16. V. 9. A. f. C. 18. L. 1. 20. L. tr. f . 



Length of head f , of pectoral J, of base of dorsal T 2 3 , of base of anal TT , of caudal § of total 

 length. Height of head J, of body J, of dorsal J, of anal } of total length. 



Eyes — Diameter nearly \ length of head, upwards of 1 diameter from end of snout, and 1J 

 apart. 



Profile ascends to anterior margin of the dorsal, from whence to the caudal it gradually 

 descends. Abdomen rather flat below, its profile not so convex as that of the back : sides com- 

 pressed. 



Mouth rather small, directed forwards and slightly downwards, upper jaw rather longer than 

 the lower. Lips continuous from upper to lower jaw : lower hp with numerous fine pores, 

 thickened below the symphysis. Preorbital rather triangular, with the base anterior. Snout bulging 

 and laterally rather swollen, both it and the preorbital are covered by crenations : some widely 

 scattered pores exist over the whole of the upper surface of the head. Nostrils nearer to the orbit 

 than to the end of the snout, anterior tubular, and separated by a membraneous valve from the 

 posterior which is oval and patent. 



Teeth — Pharyngeal teeth in three rows, crooked and sharp, 4, 3, 2, | 2, 3, 4. 



Fins — Dorsal arises midway between snout and base of caudal, it is slightly in advance of the 

 origin of the ventral, which is sub -horizontal : the anal arises midway between the posterior 

 extremity of the opercle and the termination of the caudal, and is entirely posterior to the whole 

 of the dorsal. Caudal deeply lobed. Dorsal and anal fins with a row of scales at their bases. 

 Pectoral reaches almost to the ventral, the tip of which last nearly touches the anal. 



Scales — Large. 



Lateral line — Slightly descends. 



Colours — Eeddish brown with three vertical black bands, one behind the eye, a second anterior 

 to the base of the dorsal fin, which is wide at its origin but narrows close to the ventral : a third 

 from the termination of the dorsal, crosses the lateral line, but does not reach the base of the anal : 

 occasionally a fourth crosses the base of the caudal. Muzzle black. Fins dusky. Eyes reddish. 



I am indebted to the Rev. H. Baker, junior, of Cottayam, for several specimens of this fish, 

 which he captured in the river on the hills at Mundikyum, where it is common, and grows to three 

 inches in length. 



Habitat — Hill ranges of Travancore. 



