THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 



_'!'.! 



Colours— Superiorly olive green, becoming whito along the abdomen. Dorsal greenish with 

 a black margin : anal whitish with a dark margin : pectoral yellowish. 

 Not rare in the backwater : is eaten by the Natives. 

 Habitat — Seas and estuaries of India, and Malaysia. 



Sub-Fam. GYMNOTHORACOIDEI, Bleeker. 



Group MURjENOPHIDES, Bleeker. 



Genus GYMNOTHORAX, Bloch. 



MuRiENOPHis, Lacip. 

 MuRiENA, Cuvier. 



SlDERA, ENCHELYNASSA, EURYMYCTERA, ENCHELYCORE, LIMAMURjENA, THYRSOIDEA, (pt.), 

 POLYURANODON, et T^ENIOPHIS, KdUp. 



Thverodontis, strophidon (pt.), et lycodontis, McClelland. 



Body eel-like compressed, its height less than one-thirtieth of its length : the tail and the body of 

 nearly equal lengths. Cleft of mouth large, and extending behind the orbits, jaws of nearly equal length : 

 the posterior nostril situated above the margin of the orbit. Teeth sharp, conical, or compressed, in from 

 one to four rows, those in palatines and mandibular always pointed and sharp. Pectoral fin absent : a fin 

 at the extremity of the tail. The dorsal commences before or above the branchial apertures. Lateral 

 line absent, or marked by minute pores. Heart situated near to the branchial apertures which are single, 

 linear, and in about the mid-height of the body. Scales absent. 



Gymnothorax tile. 



Mur^enophis tile, Ham. Bach. pp. 18, 363. 



Lycodontis punctata, McClelland, Cal. J. N. H. v. p. 187. 



Strophidon punctata, McClelland, Cal. J. N. H. v. p. 203, t. 7, f. 3. 



Strophidon maculata, McClelland, Cal. J. N. H. v. p. 203, t. 8, f. 1. 



Lycodontis literata, McClelland, Cal. J. N. H. v. p. 215, t. 7, f. 2. 



Mur^ena tile, Cantor, Catal. p. 331. 



Thyrsoidea tile, Kaup, Catal. Brit. Mus. p. 93, f. 66. 



Gymnothorax tile, Bleeker, Atl. Ich. iv. p. 97, t. 178, f. 1. 



D. 312-325. C. 10. A. 154-172. 



Length of head about l of total length. Height of head J5, of body rW?' of dorsal ^ mi 

 y'p, of anal about ^5 of total length. 



Eyes — Diameter from ^ to tV °f length of head, 2 diameters from end of snout. 



Body elongated and compressed. 



Opening of mouth horizontal. Eyes above the middle of the cleft. Snout rather longer 

 than the lower jaw : upper profile of snout horizontal, with a concavity over the eye, and a sudden 

 rise on the back of the head and nape. Nostrils, the anterior tubular, the posterior not so. 

 There are some well marked open pores along the jaws. 



2 K 



