454 



PHTSOSTOMI. 



posteriorly. Pectoral spine one fourtli longer than tliat of the dorsal and serrated on both edges, most strongly 

 internally. ' Ventral extends two-thirds of the distance to the anal : caudal deeply forked, its outer rays being 

 prolonged'. SA-wi— covered with tubular pores. Colours- brownish, banded with darker : fins yellow with 



black bands. t ,-,. • n 



Habitat. — Naga Hills fi-om whence the single specimen (figured life-size) was procured. 



Genus, 4 — Rita, Bhelcer. 



Gogrius, Day. 



Branchiostegals eight. GiU-oj^enings with a free posterior edge and not confluent with the shin of the isthmus. 

 Mouth transverse, upper jaw the longer, nostrils on either side sub-contiguous, hut the pair on one side widely separated 

 from that on the other. Eyes subcutaneous, without free circular margins. Barbels sic, a minute pair at the posterior 

 nostrils, a ma(cillary and a mandibular pair. Teeth villijorm in both jaivs or mixed with molarform ones in the 

 mandibles, molarform on the palate. One strong spine and six rays in first dorsal fin, the adipose and the anal of 

 moderate lengths. Ventral posterior to the base of the dorsal, and having seven or eight rays : caudal forked. Air- 

 vessel not enclosed in bone, with or tvithout a posterior prolongation. The ova are much larger than in Macrones, but 

 very much smaller than in Arius and its allies. A strong cubito-humeral process protects the pectoral spine %ohen it 

 is flexed along the side of the body. • s i td 



Geographical distribution.— Large rivers of Sind, India (except its southern portions) and iiurma far 



above Mandalay. . . i i 



Uses—iood for the lower classes. It retains life long subsequent to its removal from water, and can be 



conveyed fresh for long distances. 



SYNOPSIS OP SPECIES. 



A. Some of the posterior teeth in the lower jaw molarform. 



1. Eita Buchanani. Eye, 8 to 10 diameters in length of head. Patches of teeth in palate wide apart. 

 Dorsal spine in the adult as long or longer than the head, entire anteriorly. Indus and affluents, also Jumna, 



Ganges and Iirawaddi. -,.,-, 



2. Rita pavimentata. Eye, 5^- to 6 diameters in length of head. Patches of teeth in palate close together. 

 Dorsal spine as long as head excluding the snout, entire anteriorly. Deccan, throughout Kistna and its 



tributaries. i ^ ii • 



3. Rita chrysea. Eye, 4 diameters in the length of head. Patches of teeth m palate close together m 

 their front halves. Dorsal spine longer than the head, coarsely serrated anteriorly in its whole extent. Orissa. 



B. Teeth in lower jaw villiform or cardiform. 



4. Rita hastata. Eve, 4>- to 5 diameters in length of head. Patches of teeth in palate wide apart. 

 Dorsal spine as long or longer than the head, serrated anteriorly in its lower third. Deccan, throughout the 

 Kistna and its tiibutaries. 



A. »S'o»ie of the piosterior teeth in the lower jaw molarform. 



1. Rita Buchanani, Plate CIII, fig. 1 (semi-adult), 2 (immature), and Plate CIY, fig. 2 (young). 



Pimelodus rita. Ham. Buch. Fish. Ganges, pp. 165, 376, pi. xxiv, f. 53. 



Arius ritoides, Cuv. and Val. xv, p. 92 (young). 



Arius rita, Cuv. and Val. xv, p. 88, pi. 429. 



Rita Buchanani, Bleeker, Prod. Silur. p. 65, and Beng. p. 123, t. 3, f. 1. 



Rita crucigera, (Owen)* Giinther, Catal. v, p. 92. 



Nga-htway, Burmese. 



B. viii, D. i/0, P. 1/10, V. 8, A. 12-13 (V), C. 19. 



Length of head 4 to 4^;, of caudal 5, height of body 6i to 6 in the total length. Et/c.s— diameters 8 to 

 10 in the length of head, 3 diameters from the end of snout and 4^ apart. The gi-eatest width of the head 

 equals its length behind the nostrils, whilst its height is a little less. Upper surface of the head covered with 

 skin except a^'strip anterior to the base of the occipital process, that bone, the scapular and culiito-humeral 

 processes are granulated, the occipital process nearly as long as wide at its base, notched anteriorly to receive the 

 basal bone of %he dorsal fin and which is nearly as long as the occipital process. Upper jaw the longer : width 

 of the mouth nearly equals half the length of the head. Cubito-humeral process more pointed in young than 

 in adult specimens and about 3/4 the length of the head. Barbels— the nasal short : the maxillary nearly reach 

 the end of the head, and the mandibular ones almost as far. Teeife— viUiform in the upper jaw, also m 

 the anterior portion of the mandible, and in an outer row along either ramus, whilst internally are two or three 

 rows of rounded teeth, the most posterior of which are the largest : in two elliptical patches of rounded ones 

 on the palate, which are wide asunder along the median line but coalesce anteriorly. Fins— dorsa.\ spme very 

 strono- and slightly serrated posteriorly in its upper portion, its length varies being shortest in the immature,t 

 it is generall3'\s long as the head (except in the young) or even 1/3 longer in adults, especially in those from 



* If the specific or even the generic name of Indian fishes given in Owen's Catalog;ne of specimens in the Museum of the 

 College of Surgeons, or in his comparative anatomy, are to be admitted into Zoological literature, it wUl multiply synonyms without any 

 corresponding advantage. Perhaps however this fish should be named E. ritoides. 



t A specimen from Sind 2-8 inches long has the dorsal spine as long as head without the snout, and not reaching the base of the 

 adipose fin. 



