FAMILY, XII— SCLEXIDyE. 187 



tliere are daily to be seen in the markets examples of this fish and ,S'. rjlaimis of 5 or 6 or even more feet in length. 

 Females in full spawn are common in April. 



Habitat. — Seas of India, attaiuins? several feet in length, the one figured is 6 inches long. McClelland 

 in his paper on isinglass in the Calcutta Journal of Natural History, refers the Soor (spelt Seer) fish from which 

 the sounds are collected at Kurrachee, to a Pohjitenms, but it is a Scicena, and as described above or »S'. glaucus. 



5. SclEena cuja.* 



Bola cuja, Ham. Buch. Fish. Ganges, pp. 81, .3tJ'J, pi. xii, f. 27. 



Coruina cuja, Cuv. and Val. v, p. 96 ; Temm. and Schleg. Fauna Japon. Poiss. p. 58 ; Blyth, Joum. As. 

 Soc. of Bengal, 1860, p. 141 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 3U0. 



Scicenoides asper, Blyth, 1. c. p. 140 (young). 



B. vii, D. 10 I ^1^, P. 17, V. 1/5, A. f, C. 17, L. 1. |f, L. tr. 7/16. 



Length of head 1/4 to 2/9, of caudal 1/8, height of body 3i to 1/4 of the total length, i/f/es— diameter 

 1/5 of length of head, 1 diameter from end of snout, and also apart. Profile along the upper surface of the head 

 somewhat concave : snout not swollen : jaws of nearly the same length anteriorly, or the lower slightly the 

 lono'er. Greatest width of the head equals 2^ in its length, and its height equals its length behind the front 

 nostril. Cleft of mouth somewhat oblique, the maxilla reaches to below tlie hind edge of the orbit. The 

 distance between the eye and the upper jaw equals 3/5 of the diameter of the orbit. In the fry the upper 

 edo'c of the orbit is serrated and two rough ridges pass backwards from it. Preopercle scarcely denticulated : 

 two opercular spines. Three open pores across the base of the snout, and five large ones along the edge of the 

 free portion of the skin, but no lateral lobe. One central pore below the symphysis of the lower jaw, and two 

 large ones on either side posterior to it. Tee^/i^villiform in either jaw, with an outer row of enlarged, curved, 

 rather distantly placed and comparatively small ones in the anterior half of the premaxillaries : the inner row in 

 the lower jaw is slightly larger than the villiform bands. F/bs— dorsal spines strong, the second to the fourth 

 the longest, one third higher than the rays, and equal to the length of the postorbital portion of the head. 

 Pectoral as long as the head behind the middle of the eyes. Second anal spine very strong, nearly or quite as 

 long as the first ray and equalling the length of the head behind the middle of the eyes. Caudal rounded. Scales 

 —cycloid on the head, ctenoid on the body, the basal third of the soft dorsal and anal densely sealed : those on 

 the summit of the head to the end of the occiput very much smaller than those on the body. Lateral-luie—the 

 tubes divide posteriorly into many branches. Colours— oUiqne dark streaks, following the rows of scales, exist 

 above the lateral-line, horizontal ones below it. Both dorsals with two or three rows of black spots. 



Ealitat.—Estu&ries of the Ganges, and Japan. It attains to several feet in length. 



6. Sciaena coitor, Plate XLIV, fig. 3. 



Bola coitor, Ham. Buch. Fish. Ganges, pp. 75 and 368, pi. 27, f. 24. 



Corvina coitor, Cuv. and Val. v, p. 116 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 301. 



Johnius coitor, Blyth, J. A. S. of Beng. 1860, p. 141. 



Corvina nalla-hatchelee, Richards. Ich. China, p. 226. 



Botahl and Putteriki, Ooriah : Nga-ta-dim and Nga-pok-tltin, Burm. 



B. vii, D. 10 I ^r-U, P- 1"> V' l/'5> A. t, C. 17, L. 1. ||;||, L. tr. 5-6/15, Case. pyl. G-7 (9 Madras). 



Length of head 4^ to 41, of caudal 5^ to 1/6, height of body 41 to 4| in the total length. %es— diameter 

 from 1/4 to 5i in the length of head, 1^ to 2 diameters from the end of snout, and from 3/4 to 1| apart. 

 Greatest width of head equals one and two-thirds in its length, its height equals its length excluding the snout. 

 Snout scarcely overhanging the jaws but prominent and swollen superiorly, upper jaw somewhat the longer. 

 Interorbital space nearly flat, and the profile over the eyes rather concave. The distance between theeye and 

 the upper edge of the maxilla equals from 3/4 to 1 diameter of the eye. Preopercle serrated, most distinctly so 

 at its angle : two weak opercular spines. Shoulder-iiap finely serrated. Three small open pores across the 

 snout, and five much larger ones along the free edge of the skin of the snout, whilst there is a well developed 

 lateral lobe. One central and two lateral orifices below the symphysis of the lower jaw. _ Teei/t— -villiform m 

 both jaws, with an external slightly enlarged row in the premaxillaries, and an inner similar one m the lower 

 jaw. Fins— dorsal spines weak, the second to the fourth the longest and equal to 2/3 the height of the body 

 and 1/4 more than the rays. Pectoral equal to the length of the head behind the front nostril. Second anal 

 spine rather strong, 4/5 as high as the first ray and equal to the length of the postorbital portion of the head, 

 the length of the base of the fin equals from 3^ to 1/4 of that of the soft dorsal. Caudal wedge-shaped. Scales— 

 cycloid on the snout and below the eyes, elsewhere ctenoid. Lateral-line —makes a gi-adual curve, and above 

 the commencement of the anal becomes straight, its tubes give off a single branch on either side. Colours— 

 silvery shot with gold and purple, upper half of first dorsal blackish : soft dorsal, caudal, and anal dark externally, 

 whilst the last fin has a darkish basal band. 



This fish appears to vary considerably. Burmese and Bengal adult spechnens have six or seven ca3cal 

 appendages, and an eye from 1/5 to 5^ in the length of the head. In southern Madras, adults have nine ca^cal 

 appendages and an eye about 1/4 the length of the head. Sciaina (Corvina) nasus, Stemd. Verh. z. b. Ges. 

 Wien, 1866, p. 771, t. xv, f. 1, is probably this species. 



* Johnius serratus, Bl. Schn. p 76, has been referred to this fish, it came however from Tranquebar where S. cuja is not found. 



2 Ii 2 



