THE PISHES OF MALABAR. "41 



Genus COILIA, Gray. 



Trichosoma et TRiciiosoMUS, Swainson. 

 Ch^etomus, Mc Chlland. 



Branchiostegals, about ten. Body elongated, compressed, and tapering to a pointed tail : abdomen 

 trenchant and toothed. Snout projecting, pointed: the nasal bones advanced in front of the jaws : mter- 

 inaxillaries soldered to the maxillaries, and hidden beneath the muzzle. Mouth cleft to far behind the eyes, 

 the upper jaw the longest. Dorsal placed in the anterior part of the back : anal elongated, low, joining 

 the caudal (in one species the tail is shortened and the caudal widened and rounded). Above the pectoral 

 fin are two groups of filaments parting from a common base. Teeth on upper and lower maxillaries, a few 

 on the anterior part of the vomer ; palatine and pterygoid bones narrow, bristling with minute teeth or 

 rough; anterior pharyngeals distinctly but minutely toothed. Scales moderate or small. Air vessel 

 present. Pyloric appendages numerous. 



Coilia Eeynaldi. 

 Coilia Reynaldi, Guv. & Val. xxi. p. 81 ; Cantor, Catal. p. 310. 



B.x. D.^.V P. tot v - 15 - A. 104-107. C. 11-15. 



Length of head ^, of base of dorsal ^ of total length. Height of head \, of body $>, of 

 dorsal \, of anal about ^ of total length. 



Eyes— Diameter \ of length of head, 1 diameter from end of snout, 1 \ diameters apart. 



Body highest opposite the dorsal fin, long and tapering posteriorly to a point, also becoming 

 much smaller towards the head. Profile rises considerably to the dorsal, from whence it proceeds 

 straight to the caudal. Lower profile about equally curved with the upper. Body strongly com- 

 pressed, its sides being quite flat. 



Mouth wide and cleft oblique, posterior extremity of the maxilla extending nearly to the end of 

 the opercles, close to the origin of the pectoral fin. Snout overhanging the upper jaw, which 

 also is longer than the mandibula3. Opercle rounded posteriorly. Gill openings wide. 



T ee th Fine in both jaws, and very minute along the whole anterior margin of the maxilla. 



Fins Pectoral arises close to the posterior margin of the opercles in the lower fifth of the 



body : the dorsal commences in the first fourth : the ventral beneath it : the anal under and 

 slightly beyond the posterior margin of the dorsal. Dorsal with a short spine a very little distance 

 anterior to the fin : the anterior margin is the highest, the third ray being the longest, from 

 whence they gradually decrease to the last. Pectoral pointed, with the upper four rays prolonged 

 to nearly the middle of the body. Anal continuous with the caudal, and parallel to the abdominal 



profile. 



Scales — Deciduous ; twelve sharp spines exist along the abdominal keel. 



Lateral line — Straight, passing from the upper part of the opercle to the centre of the caudal fin. 



Colours — Silvery white with pinkish reflections : a line of white dots passes along the lower 

 surface of the abdomen, and another commences opposite the centre of the opercle and is continued 

 backwards towards the centre of the caudal. End of the caudal stained blackish. A slight 

 greyish streak runs down the centre of the back. Opercles of a bright silvery tint. 



Not rare in Malabar ; generally found during the south-west monsoon. It grows to four 

 inches in length. 



Habitat — Seas and estuaries of Malabar, Burmah, and Malaysia. 



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