THE PISHES OF MALABAR. 227 



(J en us ELOPS, Li mi. 



Branchiostcgals numerous and variable in their number, both in different specimens of the same 

 species and on either side of the head of the same fish. Body elongated, back and abdomen rounded. 

 Eyes with adipose membranes. Gape of mouth very large, intcrmaxillaries short. Mamillaries long and free, 

 lower jaw the longest. One dorsal nearly medial : anal posterior to the last dorsal ray, ventral under 

 dorsal. Pectoral and ventral with an elongated scaly appendage, last dorsal ray sometimes filamentous : 

 rows of scales along the bases of dorsal and anal fins. Caudal forked, with a more or less elongated spine- 

 like scale above and below its root. Fine velvety teeth in maxilla, mandibula, vomer, palatine, pterygoid, 

 sphenoid, and hyoid bones. A single bony plate between the branches of the lower jaw under the bran- 

 chiostegous membrane. Scales large or of moderate size. Air vessel large. Pyloric appendages numerous. 



Elops MACHNATA. 

 Argentina machnata, Forsk. G8, No. 100. 

 Elops saurus, Cuv. & Val. xix. p. 365 ; Cantor, Catal. p. 287. 

 Jinagow, Russell, pi. 179. 



B. left xxxi., right xxx. to xxxix. D. 23. P. 17. V. 15. A. 17. C. 31. L. 1.109. L. tr. {§. 



Length of head §, of pectoral 1, of caudal \, of base of dorsal J, of base of anal -jL- of total 

 length. Height of head \, of body i, of dorsal ^, of ventral \, of anal Jj- of total length. 



Eyes — Oval : situated in the anterior half of the head, upper margins close to profile : each 

 with a circular adipose covering, having a large round orifice corresponding to the pupil. Hori- 

 zontal diameter § , and vertical diameter ^ of length of head, rather above 1 horizontal diameter 

 from end of snout, f of a diameter apart anteriorly, but wider posteriorly. 



Body elongated, rather compressed along its sides, upper and lower profiles almost straight. 



Mouth large and wide, upper jaw forming the arc of a circle : lower jaw the longest, highest 

 posteriorly, a little concave along its upper margin, and elevated at the symphysis : the posterior 

 extremity of the upper jaw extends rather beyond the posterior margin of the orbit. Maxilla 

 narrow, with a long supplementary bone posterior to it in its whole extent, and in the lower half 

 there is another divided into two. Preopercle with the posterior margin rather produced at the 

 angle, which is rounded : lower limb horizontal, and three-fourths the length of the vertical one. 

 Interopercle almost hidden by the opercle. Opercle with its superior margin the shortest : the 

 inferior oblique and nearly twice the length of the superior : posterior margin rounded. Sub- 

 opercle broad, its depth rather more than half its length. Upper surface of the head with a broad 

 longitudinal furrow, narrow in front and rugose on each side. Nostrils nearer the orbit than the 

 snout. The left branchiostegous membrane overlaps the right, and contains one or two rays more, 

 they vary according to Cuv. fy Val. from twenty-nine to thirty-nine. 



Teeth — In numerous villiform rows in both jaws, widest at the centre of the lowest : also on 

 the vomer in two oval patches, joined together posteriorly by a thin wedge-shaped one : villiform 

 teeth also on the palatine bones. 



Fins — Pectoral in the lower fourth of the body, a short distance posterior to the opercle, and 

 on a lower level : dorsal midway between the anterior margin of the orbit and the base of the 

 caudal : ventral under the origin of the dorsal : anal midway between the origins of the ventral 

 and caudal. Dorsal elevated in front, where it is more than four times as long as its posterior 

 rays : upper margin concave ; the first six rays are unbranched, the last are the longest. Pectoral, 

 first ray strong and unbranched. Ventral with the two first rays bony, the second the longest in 



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