FAMILY, XI— POLTKEMID^. 177 



snout, and 3 apart. Height of head equals its length excluding the snout, its width equals its postorhital 

 length. Snout overhanging the mouth. The maxilla extends to upwards of two diameters behind the posterior 

 edge of the orbit. _ Preopercle serrated and having a soft, produced, and rounded, angle : the other opercles 

 entire. A small spine on the shoulder. Teeth — villiform in jaws, vomer, and palate. J'iW— spines of fii-st dorsal 

 weak, the second one slightly the longest : the height of the first ray of the second dorsal equals the length of the 

 base of the fin which is highest anteriorly, its upper edge concave. Pectoral rays undivided, the fin has seven 

 free rays below its base, the three superior being the longest, strongest, and about twice the length of the fish. 

 Ventral does not quite reach the anal, the latter fin commencing under the second dorsal and beijig of the same 

 height, its lower edge emarginate. Caudal deeply forked, upper lobe the longer. ,Sca/es— ctenoid, in regular 

 horizontal rows, covering the body and head, with fine ones over the vertical fins. Lateral-line— iovms a gi-adual 

 curve, and becomes lost at the centre of the base of the caudal fin. Least depth of the free portion of the tail 

 equals '2/.5 of the length of the head. Air-vessel— shseat. CoZoitre— generally golden, with a shade of gray 

 alono; the back, and the dorsal fins also stained grayish with a slight tinge of the same shade, so are also the 

 caudal, the pectoral, and upper pectoral appendages. 



Buchanan observes : " Those who officiate in the temple of Sih are called Tapasi in the vulgar dialect, 

 and Tapasivl in Sangskritta, that is to say penitents. They ought not to shave, on which account a Issh called 

 Mangoe fish by the English of Calcutta, which has long fibres proceeding from near its head, is called by the 

 same name." 



Eahitat.— Indian seas. Bay of Bengal at least as low as Coconada, also along the coasts of Burma 

 to the Malay Archipelago, entering rivers for spawning purposes, and generally dm-ing the S. W. monsoon 

 and the cold months. It is considered a great luxury for the table and commences to be taken in 

 numbers about June. It attains 9 inches in length. Ham. Buch. observes : " I have, I think, observed three 

 sjMcies included under this name (Mangoe fish), and Dr. Russell describes a fourth : but all have exactly the 

 same qualities and manners, nor am I sure that the slight difl'erences in the number of rays which I observed 

 may not be accidental varieties, rather marking individual than specific difierences" (p. 229). 



2. Polynemus heptadactylus, Plate XLII, fig. 5. 



Cuv. and Val. iii, p. 390 ; Bleeker, Perc. p. 60 ; Cantor, Catal. p. 34 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 321 ; Dav 

 Fishes of Malabar, p. 59. ' I > y, 



B. vii, D. 8 I T^l^, P. 1.5+vii, V. 1/5, A. ^t't?- C. 19, L. 1. 50-52, L. tr. 5/11, Cffic. pyl. 4. 



Length of head 1/5, of caudal 1/4, height of body 1/4 of the total length. %es— diameter 3| in the 

 length of head, 1/2 a diameter from end of snout, and 1 apart. Height of the head equals its length excluding 

 the snout, the width of the head nearly equals half its length. The maxilla reaches to 1/2 a diameter behind 

 the posterior edge of the eye : interorbital space nearly flat. Preopercle strongly serrated, having a well 

 developed spine just above its angle, which is rounded and produced. A spine on shoulder at the commence- 

 ment of the lateral-line. Teei/j— villiform in jaws, vomer, and palate. i^t)ts— first dorsal spine short, the tliird 

 the longest and equal to 2/3 the height of the body, the last scarcely one-thii-d of its height ; second dorsal 

 highest anteriorly where it equals 3/4 of that of the body, upper edge of^ the fin concave. Pectoral rays 

 unbranched, the length of the fin equals 3/4 of the height of the body, its appendages reach to the base of the 

 anal, the upper being the longest. Ventral reaches the vent. Anal highest anteriorly where it equals the first 

 dorsal, its lower edge straight. Caudal deeply lobed. Air-vessel— absent. Free portion of the tad in its least 

 depth equals If in the length of the head. Colours— golden, pectoral nearly black : edge of first dorsal, upper 

 edge of second dorsal, margins of caudal, lower half of the anal and tip of ventral also black. 



Habitat.— Se&s of India to the Malay Ai-chipelago, attaining at least 6 inches in length. 



3. Polynemus xanthonemus. 



Cuv. and Val. vii, p. 517; Richardson, Ich. China, p. 219; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 325. 



B. vii, D. 8 I tV, P- 15+vi, A. ^1^^, Csec. pyl. 12. 



It is observed that this fish more resembles P. sextarius than P. sexfilis. Fins — its six free pectoral 

 rays extend beyond the end of the ventral but are shorter than in P. hexanem'us, in which they reach to the end 

 of the body. Although the caudal lobes are not more elongated than in P. sextarius (1/5 of the total length), 

 the fin ismore deeply cleft. Air-vessel— ahsent. Colours — back greenish, sides and abdomen silvery : the fins 

 yellow with a black border, the free rays are the same colour as the fins. 



Sir John Richardson observes of Reeves' figure, that it " has a zigzag blackish line above the base of the 

 pectoral, which is not noticed in the ' Histoire des Poissons,' but in other respects it agrees with the description 

 in that work." r o f 



Habitat. — Seas of India to China, attaining at least 6 inches in length. I have not recognised this 

 species in India. 



4. Polynemus sextarius, Plate XLII, fig. 6. 



Bloch. Schn. p. 18, t. iv ; Cuv. and Val. iii, p. 388, and vii, p. 514 ; Bleeker, Perc. p. 59 ; Cantor, Catal. 

 p. 32 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 326 ; Day, Fish. Malabar, p. 60. 



2 A 



