338 ACAXTHOPTERYGII. 



Family, XXXI— RHYNCHOBDELLIDiE, Bleeker, 



Sconnheroidei, pt., Cuv. and Val. ; Mastacemhelidce, Giinther. 



Branchiostegals six: pseudobranchis absent. Gili-opening, a slit on the side of the head: gills four. 

 Body elongated, eel-shaped. Humeral arch not suspended from the skull. Lower jaw long, but without 

 much power of motion. A single long dorsal fin, its anterior portion consisting of free spines : anal with 

 three spines anterior to it : soft dorsal and anal of similar extent : ventral fins absent. Air-vessel present. 

 Pyloric appendages two. 



Geographical distrihidion.—Yresh aud brackish -waters of Syria, Sind, India, Ceylon, Burma, the Malay 

 Archipelago. They are found far inland, and often at great elevations. 



Uses — excellent as food, although owing to their resemblance to eels (in fact they are eels with 

 spines) or snakes some people object to them. Buchanan observes that they " have less of a disgusting 

 appearance than those called Murwna, and are more sought after by the natives, the highest of vrhom in 

 Bengal make no scruple of eating them; and by Europeans they are esteemed the best of the eel-kind." 

 They salt well, but their flesh is reputed to be sHghtly heating. 



SYNOPSIS OF GENERA. 



1. Wtynrliohdella. Snout fleshy, transversely striated iuferiorly : no preorbital spine. From Syria, 

 Sind, India, Burma, to the Malay Archipelago, and beyond. 



2. Mastacemhelus. Snout fleshy, not transversely striated interiorly : a preorbital spine. From Syria, 

 through India, to the Malay Archijjelago and beyond. 



Genus, 1 — Rht^xhobdella, Block, Schneider. 



Mastacemleliis, Gronov. 



Branchiostegals six. Cleft of mouth narrow : a long and fleshy snunt, iiferiorhj concave, and transversetg 

 striated. Minute teeth on jaws and vomer. Dorsal and anal not confluent with the caudal fin. Scales small, 

 cycloid. Lateral-line present. Air-vessel elongated. 



Geographical distribution. — Prefers ponds or pieces of water in which mud abounds: it is foniul 

 in the deltas of all large rivers of Sind. India, and Burma. 



SYNOPSIS OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



1. Wiijnchohdella actdeata, D. 16-20 | 44-54, A. 2-3 | 44-52. A series of from three to nine large black 

 ocelli, with a light edge, along the base of the soft dorsal tin (they are occasionally absent). Deltas of large 

 Indian and Burmese rivers. 



1. Rhynchobdella aculeata, Plate LXXII, fig. 1. 



Ophidium aculeatum, Bloch. tab. 159, f. 2 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1147. 



liliipichohdella Orientalis. Bl. Schn. p. 478. 



Jihynchohdella aral, Bl. Schn. p. 479, tab. 89 ; Cuv. and Val. viii, p. 445, pi. 239. 



Macrognathvs aculeatus, Lacep. ii, p. 284 ; Ham. Buch. pp. 29, 364. 



llhynchohdeUa ocellata, Cuv. and Val. viii, p. 445. 



Mastacembelus pentophthalmos, Gronov. ed Gray, p. 172. 



llhynchohdeUa aculeata, Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1848, p. 147 ; Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 540. 



Aral, Tam. ; Bommiday,Te\\ig\i; Theliya, Singhalese (Tenuant) ; ToH-ra/i, Assam. ; Sand and Spined eels; 

 Bara and Thuri, Ooriah ; Nya mawaydoh nya, Burmese. 



B. vi, D. 16-20 I 44-54, P. 23, A. 2-3 | 44-52, C. 15, Vert. 32/40. 



Length of head from 5 to 6, of pectoral 23 to 28, of caudal 10 to 15, height of body 8 to 10 in the 

 total length. Eyes — 1 diameter apart. Snout fleshy, elongated, with a trilobed anterior extremity, its 

 inferior surface concave, transversely striated. The maxilla reaches to below the front nostril. Preopercle 

 entire, no preorbital spine. Fins — the first dorsal consisting of spines, which increase in length posteriorly, 

 they begin at the commencement of the second seventh of the length of the fish. Soft dorsal and anal separated 

 by a deep notch from the caudal, which is rounded. Second pre-anal spine longest and strongest. _ Air-ve.'isel — 

 extends from the head to the anus. Colours—hrowmsh or greenish, marbled superiorly, becoming yellowish 

 along the abdomen: a light band along the body just above the lateral-line. A series of from three 

 to nine large black ocelli, having a white or buflT edge, along the base of the soft dorsal fin. Caudal with from 

 six to eight vertical brown bars, fins otherwise grayish. Pectoral sometimes yellow. The body has 

 several longitudinal bands in Sind. 



