260 ACANTHOPTERTGII. 



Family, XX— URANOSCOPIDiE, Richardson. 



Koralce, Tamil. 



Branchiostegals from five to seven : pseudobranchise. Body low and more or less cylindrical. Gill- 

 openings wide. Eyes on the upper surface of the head. Head mostly cuirassed with bony plates. Infraorbital 

 ring of bones does not articulate with the preopercle. Usually villiform teeth in both jaws, canines present or 

 absent, but no molars. One or two dorsal fins, the spines being fewer in number than the rays. Ventral 

 with one spine and five rays. Pectoral rays branched. No prominent papilla near the vent. Scales when 

 present rudimentary. Lateral line continuous. Air-vessel absent. Pyloric appendages when present few 

 or in moderate numbers. 



In Cuv. and Val. the genus Uraiioscopus was divided into (1) those with two dorsal fins ; and (2) those 

 with one. 



SYNOPSIS OF GENERA. 



1. Uranoscopus. Two dorsal fins. Scales small. Seas of India. 



2. Ichthyscopus. A single dorsal fin. Head armed with bony plates. Scales rudimentary. Seas 

 of India. 



Genus, 1 — Ue.\noscopus, Cuv. 



Branchiostegals six : pseudobrancliice. Body somewhat cylindrical. Head large, broad, and partly covered 

 with hony plates. The opercles and shoulder-bones usually armed. Besides the posterior gill-optening there is generally 

 a rounded orifice above the opercle. Byes on the uppier surface of the head. Cleft of mouth vertical, with a filament 

 belotv, or before the tongue. Villiform or cardiform teeth on the jaws, vomer, and palatine bones, no canines. Two 

 dorsals, the first loith from three to five spines : ventrals jugular. Scales small and rudimentary. Lateral-line 

 continuous. Air-vessel absent. Pyloric appendages in moderate numbers. 



SYNOPSIS OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



1. Uranoscopus grittatus, D. 4-5 | 12-1.3, A. 13. Strong shoulder spines. Chestnut or slaty-brown, with 

 light spots in the upper half of its body and head : a black blotch at upper portion of spinous dorsal fin. Seas 

 of India. 



1. Uranoscopus guttatus,* Plate LV, fig. 4. 



Cuv. and Val. iii, p. 305 ; Cuv. Roet. Anim. 111. Poissons, pi. 17, f. 2 ; Bleeker, Beng. en Hind. p. 34 ; 

 Griffith in Cuv. An. King. Fishes, p. 128, pi. 24, f. 3 ; Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1851, p. 142 ; Giinther, Catal. 

 ii, p. 228. 



Uranoscopus marmoratus, Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1851, p. 142 ; Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, p. 702, 

 (? Cuv. and Val. iii, p. 304.) 



B. vi, D. 4-5 I 12-13, P. 17, V. 1/5, A. 13, C. 13. 



Length of head 3i- to 3^, of pectoral 4 to 4^, of caudal 5 to S-J, height of body 4 to 4^ in the total length. 

 Eyes — on the upper surface of the head, 1/2 a diameter from end of snout, and l^ apart. Greatest width of 

 head rather exceeds its height. Cleft of mouth nearly vertical : lips with a narrow fringe : nostrils situated in 

 front of the centre of the eye. Four to seven spines along the lower edge of the preopercle, and one 

 on subopercle. Two large spines on shoulder-bone, the lower the larger and equalling 2 diameters of the orbit. 

 Posterior border of occiput with one central and on either side two more little bony lobes, the posterior of which 

 has one or two spii cs. Bones of the head roughened like the impressions of a thimble. Teeth — two 

 or three rows of card form ones in either jaw, becoming laterally a single one in the lower : smaller teeth on 

 vomer and palatines. Fins — dorsal sprues weak, the first the longest, but only 2/3 as high as the soft dorsal. 

 Caudal rather rounded. Scales — present on the body, except above the first part of the lateral-line, and on the 

 breast and chest to the commencement of the anal fin : they are not imbricated but covered by skin, and are in 

 rows bounded by muciferous channels. Laieral-line — goes from the shoulder to the base of the second dorsal, 

 along which it is continued, it has a few rounded scales above it behind the base of the second dorsal spine. 

 Colours — chestnut or slaty-brown, with two or three rows of bluish white spots along the back and half 

 way down the sides. First dorsal pure white, with its upper two-thirds black, from the first to midway 

 between the third and fourth spines : second dorsal black along its upper two-thirds : caudal with a wide 



* Uranoscopus afinis, C. V. iii, p. 304 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 227, appears to be closely allied to V. cngnatus. Cantor. It is 

 said to have I). 5 | 12, A. 13. The spine at the shoulder is 2/.3 the length of the pectoral, and the black dorsal blotch extends from the 

 second to the fourth dorsal spines. II is stated to have come from the Indian Ocean, but India is not distinctly- indicated. 



