608 PHYSOSTOMI. 



Genus, 2 — Acanthopsis, v. HasseU. 

 Prostheacanthus, Blyth. 



Bochj very elongated, snovt long a7id compressed. Barlels eu/ht, two being mandibular. A small, bifid, 

 erectile spine, situated in advance of the orbit. Dorsal fin opp>osite to the ventrals ; caudal forked. 

 Geographical distribution. —Burma to the Malay Archipelago. 



SYNOPSIS OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



1. Acanthopsis choirorrhynrhus. D. 11, A. S. Burma, &c. 



1. Acanthopsis choirorrliynchus, Plate CLV, fig. 1. 



Cobitis choir orrhynclms, Bleeker, Nat. Tyds. Ned. Ind. vii, p. 05. 

 Prostheacanthus spectabilis, Blyth, Proc. A. S. of B. 1860, p. 167. 



Acanthopsis choirorrhy^iclms, Bleeker, Atl. Ich. Cyp. p. 9, t. i, f. 3; Gunther, Catal. vii, p. 365 ; Day, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869, p. 549. 



Nga-tha-lay-doh, Burmese. 



B. iii, D. 11(f), P. 11, V. 7, A. 8(1), C. 11. 



Length of head 5, of caudal G, height of body 9 in the total length. %es— diameter 1/6 of the length of 

 head, 4 diameters from the end of snout, 1/2 a diameter apart. Body elongated and compressed, a rise from 

 the snout to the occiput. Snout produced : nostrils nearer the end of the snout than to the anterior margin of 

 the orbit. An erectile bifid spine situated between the nostrils and the orbit, and on a level with its lower 

 margin. Barbels— eight, all short. JF/«s— dorsal commences midway between the snout and the base of the 

 caudal fin, it is slightly in advance of the ventral. Caudal lobed, the lower slightly the longer. ScaZes— minute. 

 Lateral-line— complete. CoZows— brownish, with 12 bands across the back, and the same number of blotches 

 along the lateral-line : two rows of blotches along the dorsal, and three across the anal fins. 



Habitat. — Burma, and the eastern portion of Sumatra. 



Genns, 3 — Somileptes (Swainson) Bleeker. 



Body elongated and compressed, dorsal profile nearly horizontal : snout elongated.^ Eyes promineitt. Six 

 barbels— four on the snout, and tivo on the upper jaiv. A small erectile, bifid, suborbital spine. Dorsal fin mseiied 

 slightly behind the ventral: caudal entire. 



Geographical distribution. — From Orissa through Bengal to Assam. 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 

 1. Somileptes gongota, D. 10, A. 8. Barbels short. Assam. 



1. Somileptes gongota, Plate CLV, fig. 2. 



Cobitis gongota. Ham. Buch. Fish. Gang. pp. 351, 394; Bleeker, Beng. p. 70; Gunther, Catal. vii, p. 363. 



Cobitis cucura. Ham. Buch pp. 352, 394 ; McClelland^, Ind. Cyp. pp. 303, 434, t. 51, f. 2 (from H. B.'s 

 MSB.), young ; Cuv. and Val. xviii, p. 70 ; Bleeker, Beng. p. 73. 



Cobitis oculata, McClelland, Ind. Cyp. pp. 303, 433, t. 51, f. 1, (from H. B.'s MSS.) adult. 



? Cobitis amnicola, Cuv. and Val. xviii, p. 68 ; Bleeker, Beng. p. 70. 



Canthophrys albescens, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 310. 



Somileptes bispinosa, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 311 ; Bleeker, Atl. Ich. Cyp. p. 3. 



Beetah, Assam. 



B. iii, D 10(1), P. 10, V. 7, A. 7(f), C. 16. 



Length of head 5}, of caudal Gi, height of body 7 in the total length. Eyes— high up, situated rather 

 behind the middle of the length of the head. Snout with its upper edge rather concave, it and the rest of the 

 head covered with fine warty excrescences. Suborbital spine bifid, and reaching to below the first half of the 

 eye. ^arfteZs— rather short, extending nearly half way to below the eyes. Fins -origin oi dorsal opposite 

 the root of the inner ventral ray, and midway between the hind edge of the eye and the base of the caudal fin : 

 caudal entire. ,S'cuZes— small, 17 rows between lateral-line and base of ventral fin. Colours— an undulatt^d 

 band along the side of the body, giving off vertical bars towards the back, or else oblique blotches with light 

 edges descending from the back or placed iiTegularly on the body. Dorsal and caudal fins with transverse rows 

 of blackish dots. . 



Habitat.— Assam, Bhecr Bhoom, and Khasia hills. The example figured (life-size) was from the Khasia 



hills. 



