214 THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 



Lateral line — Slopes gradually down from the posterior superior margin of opercle to opposite 

 the end of the pectoral, from whence it proceeds nearly direct to the centre of the caudal. 



Colours — Back green, abdomen silvery, a slight golden tinge on the opercle, and a dark 

 diffused spot on tho lateral line from the twenty-first to the twenty-third scales. Dorsal stained 

 rather dark along its upper margin. Pectoral, ventral and anal yellowish. Caudal dirty white. 

 In the monsoon time a beautiful rosy streak extends from the eye to the centre of the caudal fin ; 

 the back is of a more olive green, and the fins redder. 



When young the summit of the head is golden green, and a yellow streak runs from opposite 

 the centre of the eye to the centre of the tail. When about two inches in length the black spot 

 on the side of the tail commences to appear, and by degrees the golden streak along the side dis- 

 appears. 



Grows to five or six inches in length. 



Habitat — Fresh waters of Southern India. 



With no cirri (Puntius, Ham. Buch.) 

 1. Unbranched dorsal rays osseous, the last serrated posteriorly. 



Puntius punctatus, Plate VII. f. 1. 



Puntius punctatus, Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1865, p. 302. 

 Putter perlee, Mai. 



B. iii. D. f . P. 15. V. 8. A. §. C. 18. L. 1. 27. L. tr. f. 



Length of head J, of pectoral I, of base of dorsal f, of base of anal ^ , of caudal 1 of total 

 length. Height of head £, of body -J, of dorsal A of total length. 



Eyes— Large, close to profile, nearly J the length of head, J of a diameter from end of snout, 

 nearly 1 diameter apart. 



The posterior extremity of maxilla does not extend quite to the anterior margin of the orbit. 

 Suborbital ring of bones very broad, almost entirely hiding the preopercle. Sub- and inter- 

 opercles narrow. 



Fins — Pectoral arises opposite the posterior inferior angle of the subopercle : the ventral, one 

 scale beyond the extremity of the pectoral : anal just under the dorsal, opposite the fifteenth scale 

 on the lateral line. Dorsal fin highest in front, superior border concave : its first unbranched ray 

 very minute, second nearly half the height of the third, which is strong, broad, and serrated in the 

 upper two-thirds of its posterior margin : a row of scales along its base. Pectoral pointed. Ven- 

 tral with a large elongated scale at its base. Anal with its first unbranched ray very minute, often 

 quite hidden. Caudal with a broad base, and moderately lobed. 

 Scales — With two or three radiating lines. 



Lateral line — At first curves gradually downwards, and from opposite the base of the ventral 

 passes direct to the caudal. 



Colours— Olive green above, gradually fading into silvery on the abdomen. A black diffused 

 spot on the twentieth and twenty-first scales of the lateral line. The anterior half of the fourth 

 scale from the opercle in the row next the lateral fine is of a deep black, as is also a portion of 

 the scale above, and that beneath it. Fins yellowish, dorsal and anal tipped with orange. Dorsal 



