THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 223 



Sub-order.— PHYSOSTOMI ABDOMINALES, Muller. 



Fam. CLUPEOIDiE, Cuvier. 



Genus CHIROCENTRUS, Cuvier. 



Branchiostegals, eight. Body much elongated and compressed, abdomen trenchant but not toothed. 

 Eyes lateral. Cleft of mouth wide, lower jaw the longest. One dorsal, placed far backwards towards the 

 caudal and opposite the anal. An elongated, triangular bony appendage in the axilla. Ventrals very 

 small, placed anterior to the dorsal. Teeth in a single pointed row in the intermaxillaries and maxilla, 

 those' on either side of the symphysis being the largest : an oblique row of villiform teeth on the palatine 

 bones, and a small group of velvety ones on the anterior pterygoid. A single row of long— but unequal 

 sized-lance-shaped teeth on each branch of the lower jaw. A single row of minute and conical ones 

 along the sides of the tongue, on the hyoid bone, and the margins of the branchial arches. Scales small 

 and deciduous. Air vessel present. No pyloric appendages. 



CHIEOCENTEUS DORA I!. 



Clupea dorab, Forsk. 72, no. 10S. 



Wahlah, Russell, pi. 199. 



Chirocentrus dorab, Cuv. & Vol. xix. p. 150, pi. 565 ; Cantor, Catal. p. 277. 



B. viii. D. 16-17. P. 14-15. V. 6-7. A. 33-31. C. 19. 



Length of head above fc of pectoral \, of caudal nearly $, of base of dorsal T \, of base of anal 

 r ? r of total length. Height of head J-, of body -}, of dorsal T V, of ventral about £, of anal T V of 



total length. 



Eyes— Each having a strong adipose lid, with a vertical oval opening : horizontal diameter ¥ , 

 vertical diameter f of length of head, J of a horizontal diameter apart, § of a diameter from end of 



snout. 



Body elongated, strongly compressed, its upper profile almost horizontal as far as the base ot 

 the dorsal fin, from whence it slopes slightly downwards to the caudal : its abdominal profile is 

 more convex than that of the back, and its margin is sharp and cutting. 



Mouth anterior, upper jaw rather broad and obtuse, forming an arch, in its lower fourth it 

 becomes much more oblique : lower jaw strongly compressed, considerably the longest, and when 

 the mouth is closed its anterior margin forms a portion of the upper profile of the head. A supple- 

 mentary bone from the preorbital extends to the maxilla, which has a second inferior to it. Pre- 

 opercle, its posterior border thin and expanded, angle rounded, lower border horizontal. Opercle 

 with its sides nearly straight, one-third higher than wide, its posterior border slightly convex. 

 Sub- and interopercles small. Interorbital space broader posteriorly than anteriorly, and having 

 a raised keel along its centre. Preorbital very wide and thin. 



Teeth— One pair, long, sharp, straight, and approximating exist near the centre of the 

 intermaxillaries, the remainder of which, and the whole extent of the maxilla armed with 

 sharp straight teeth, of irregular lengths, and becoming smaller at the posterior extremity of the 

 jaw. Each mandibula has a row of about twelve sharp laterally compressed teeth, of which the two 

 first are the shortest, and those most anterior have an oblique anterior direction, whilst those 

 posterior gradually become directed more and more backwards until the last form an acute angle 



