FAMILY, III— SCOMBRESOCID^. 517 



long. A barbel at the posterior nostril 1/2 the length of the eye. Teeth — conical in both jaws. FtHS— dorsal 

 with a rather oblique upper edge. Pectoral, if turned forwards, reaches the middle or the front edge of the eye. 

 Ventral small, inserted in the commencement of the last third of the distance between the eye and base of 

 the caudal fin. Anal commences under the third or fourth dorsal ray, and the length of its base is from 1/2 to 

 1/3 as long, some of its rays are sometimes thickened. Caudal rounded, its lower rays very slightly produced. 

 Scales — on upper jaw, none on the vertical fins. Colours — a nan-ow silvery streak along the side which below 

 the base of the dorsal fin becomes nearly one-third as wide as a scale is deep : upper half of dorsal black. 



Huhitat. — Bombay, Hooghly, Andamans, waters of the Malay Archipelago and perhaps China. It 

 ascends tidal rivers for some distance. It attains at least 8 inches in length. 



11. Hemirhamplius ectunctio, Plate CXIX, fig. 6. 



Esox edmictio, Ham. Buch. Fish. Ganges, pp. 212, 380. 



Hemirhamplms amllyiirus, Bleeker, Snoek. p. IG ; Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 273. 



Semirhamphtis Borneensis, Bleeker, 1. c. p. 25. 



Hemirhamplms ectunctio, Bleeker, Beng. p. 14 ; Blyth, Pro. Asi. Soc. of Beng. 1858, p. 287. 

 • Hemirhamplius Bleekeri, Kner, Sitz. Akad. Wiss. Wien. 1860, p. 539, f. 4 (male.) 



Hemirhamphus neglectus, Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869, p. 526. 



Zenarchopterus amblyurus, Bleeker, Ned. Tyds. Dierk. iii, p. 160, and Atl. Ich. vi, p. 61, Scom. 

 t. iv, f. 1. 



Nga-phoung-yo, Burmese. 



B. X, D. 13-14, P. 9, V. 6, A. 10-12, C. 15, L. 1. 46-48. 



Length of head 2i to 2|, of beak 5^, of caudal 8 to 9, height of body 11 in the total length. Eyes— 

 2i to 2i diameters in the" postorbital length of the head, and 1^ apart. Head and body compressed : height 

 of head equals its postorbital length. Upper jaw twice as long as broad at its base. Upper surface of the 

 head flat. A short barbel, which is sometimes absent, at the nostril. Teeth — in jaws fine and conical. Fins— 

 the dorsal commences somewhat anterior to the anal. Pectoral if laid forwards reaches the hind edge of the 

 eye. Ventral inserted in the commencement of the last third of the distance between the eye and base of the 

 caudal fin : it reaches 1/2 way to the anal. Anal rays thickened in the male. Caudal rounded. Scales — on 

 upper jaw, none on vertical fins. Colours — of a dull greenish brown, with a narrow and indistinct lateral 

 band : end of upper jaw milk white. 



It is curious to observe these fish in tidal rivers, they swim near the surface, with theii* milk-white 

 upper jaw generally visible. 



Habitat.— UoogU J, tidal stream at Akyab, Burma, Siam, and to the Malay Ai-chipelago. It attains 

 at least 6 inches in length. 



12. Hemirhamphus dispar, Plate CXIX, fig. 5. 



Cuv. and Val. xix, p. 58, p. 558 ; Bleeker, Nat. Tyds. Ned. Ind. vi, p. 498 ; Gunther, Catal. vi, p. 274 ; 

 Peters A. Ak. Berl. 1871 p. 32. 



Zenarchopterus dispar. Gill, Pro. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1863, p. 273 ; Bleeker, Revis. Hemir. p. 164, Atl. 

 Ich. vi, p. 63, and Scomb. t. vii, f. 4. 



B. x-xi, D. 11-12, P. 10, V. 6, A. 11-12, C. 15, L. 1. 40. 



Length of entire head 2^ to 2i, of beak 4i, of caudal 9, height of body 11 in the total length. Eyes— 

 diameter l\ in the postorbital length of the head, and If apart. Upper jaw as broad at its base as it is 

 long. A nasal barbel 2/3 as long as the eye. Kws— dorsal commences about 3 rays anterior to the origin 

 of the anal, one of its rays may be modified. Pectoral as long as the head behind the front edge of the 

 eye. Ventral inserted in the commencement of the last third of the distance between the end of the upper 

 jaw and the base of the caudal fin. Anal with some of its rays, esjiecially the sixth and sometimes the 

 seventh, much thickened and elongated. Caudal cut square or slightly rounded. Scales— none on dorsal or 

 anal fins : present on upper jaw. Colours — a silvery band along the side. 



Habitat.— Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. Common at the Andamans m protected 

 bays. 



13. Hemirhamphus brachynopterus. 



Bleeker, Beng. en Hind. p. 146 ; Gunther, Catal. vi, p. 275. 



D. 9, A. 15, C. 16. 



Length of head 3i, of beak 4|, of caudal 8, height of body 12 in the length of the body. Eyes— 

 2 diameters in the postorbital length of the head, rather above 1 apart. Body elongated and compressed, a 

 little higher than wide. Upper jaw rather wider than long, its length not equalling one diameter of the oi-bit. 

 Upper surface of head flat. Fins—&vst ray of the dorsal over the fifth of the anal, length of the base of the 

 anal not quite twice as long as that of the dorsal. Anal not lower than the body, its inferior edge concave. 

 Caudal rounded. 



Habitat.— Hiyev Hooghly, from whence Dr. Bleeker received a single small specimen, -nhich unfortunately 

 is now in such a bad state that I cannot add anything to the above description. 



