248 ACANTHOPTERTGir. 



Family, XVIII— COEYPHiENID^, (pt.) Swainson. 



Branchiostegals from five to seven : pseudobranchiae present or absent. Body oblong or elevated and 

 compressed. Gill-openings wide. Eyes lateral. The infraorbital bones do not articulate with preopercle. 

 Teeth in the jaws, present or absent on the palate, none in the sesophagus. One long dorsal fin, without 

 distinct spinous division : ventrals thoracic, (except in Fteracl!.^, when they are jugular). No prominent 

 papilla near the vent. Air-vessel present or absent. Pyloric appendages few or many. Vertebrae exceed 

 10/40. 



SYNOPSIS OP GENERA. 



1. CorypJicena. Dorsal fin ccmTnencing on occipat : scales present. 



2. Mene. Dorsal fin commencing on the back : scales absent. 



Genus, 1 — Coetph^na, Cuv. and Val. 



Lampugus (immature), Cuv. and Val. Dolphins. 



Branchiostegals seven: pseudobranchiae absent. Body rather elongated and compressed. Preopercle entire. 

 Teeth in the jaws, on vomer, palatines, and tongue. A single long dorsal fin extending from the occiput nearly to the 

 caudal, hut ivithout district spines, neither are they apparent in the anal : ventral thoracic and loell developed. Scales 

 small, cycloid. Air-vessel absent. Pyloric appendages numerous. 



Geographical distribution. — Seas of temperate and tropical regions. 



Cuvier remarks upon the relative height of the crest on the neck, and suggests the possibility of its being 

 partly due to sex. Giinther considers " that the crest and the anterior part of the dorsal fin become gradually 

 higher with age," Catal. ii, p. 405. 



SYNOPSIS OP INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



1. Coryphoina Mppurus, D. 58-63, A. 25-27. Gray, becoming golden on the sides and beneath, and 

 covered vfith small blue spots. Seas of tropical and temperate regions. 



1. Coryphaena hippurus, Plate LIII, fig. 6. 



Linn. Syst. p. 446. Bloch, t. 174; Bl. Schn. p. 295; Lacep. iii, pp. 173, 178; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 212, 

 pi. 32, f. 1 ; Cuv. and Val. is, p. 278, pi. 266 ; Guichen, Explor. Sc. Alger. Poiss. p. 63 ; Lowe, Trans. Zool. 

 Soc. ii, p. 183, iii, p. 6, and Proc. Z. S. 1839, p. 80 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 406 ; Steind. Sitz. Ak. Wiss. 1868, 

 p. 370 ; Klunz. Verb. z. b. Ges. Wien, 1871, p. 446. 



Coryphmna chrysurus, Lacep. ii, pi. 18, f. 2 ; Cuv. and Val. ix, p. 309. 



GorypTuena dorado, Cuv. and Val. ix, p. 303; Cuv. Reg. An. 111. Poiss. pi. 65, f. 1. 



Goryphcena dolfyn, virgata, and argyrurus, Cuv. and Val. ix, pp. 305, 308, 314. 



Lampugus pelagica and ? immacidatns, Cuv. and Val. ix, pp. 318, 329 (immature). 



Goryphcena Japonica, Schleg. Fauna Japon, Poiss. p. 120, pi. 64. 



Badahlan, Tam. : Dolphin. 



B. vii, D. 58-63, P. 21, V. 1/5, A. 25-27, C. 19. 



Length of head 5^- to 6, of caudal 4| to 4|, height of body 5| to 6^ in the total lengfh. Eyes — diameter 

 1/4 to 1/6 of length of head, 3 diameters from end of snout, and Ih apart. Body elongated and compressed: 

 occipital crest well developed. Cleft of mouth rather oblique, the lower jaw the longer, the maxilla extends to 

 below the middle or last third of the orbit. Opercles and shoulder bones striated but entire. Teeth — in numerous 

 vilUform rows in either jaw, with an outer somewhat enlarged one : they ai-e also present on the vomer, palatines, 

 and tongue. Fins — dorsal commences over the posterior edge of the orbit, its first seven or eight rays gradually 

 increase in length, whilst the last in the fin is not quite 1/3 that of the highest, the fin reaches to a short distance 

 anterior to the root of the caudal. Pectoral falcated : the anal commences midway between the anterior margin 

 of the orbit and the base of the caudal fin, it is highest in front, but after the third or fourth rays it becomes 

 parallel with the abdomen : caudal with deeply pointed lobes. Lateral-line — curved to opposite the end of the 

 pectoral from whence it goes straight to the centre of the caudal. Golours — back grayish, shot with gold : 

 abdomen golden, covered with blue spots, which become black after death : dorsal fin light blue at the base, 

 becoming black towards the summit. 



February 22nd, 1867, I found in tlie stomach of one of these fishes a Clupea Neohowii and the anterior 

 half of an Flops machnata. 



Habitat.— Sens of India, Mal.ay Archipelago, &c. ; the one figured (34 inches long) is from Madras : it 

 attains 5 feet or more in length. These dolphins are not uncommon in Madras, and are eaten by the natives. 



