FAMILY, VI— CLUPEID.^. 641 



Chipea ilisha* Gunther, Catal. vii, p. 445 ; Kner, Novara Fische, p. 331. 

 B. vi, D. 17{-^), P. 16, V. 8, A. 20-21(^7^^1^), C. 19, L. 1. 42-45, L. tr. 13-14. 



Length of head 43-, of caudal 4^-, height of body 3j to 3i in the total length. Eyes — with a broad 

 adipose membrane on either side, diameter 4 in the length of the head, 1 diameter from the end of snout and 

 about 1 apart. Abdominal profile more convex than that of the back. The thickness of the body at the 

 shoulder equals 2/5 of its height. Greatest width of the smooth portion of the operele is nearly 1/2 its depth : 

 subopercle tapering behind to its posterior-superior angle. Lower jaw scarcely projects beyond the upper. 

 The maxilla extends posteriorly to below the hinder third of the orbit. Teeth — absent. Fins — dorsal commences 

 midway between the front end of the snout and the end of the base of the anal fin, its greatest height rather 

 exceeds the length of its base : its upper edge concave. Pectoral rather more than 1/2 as long as the head and 

 does not quite reach to above the ventral, which last is situated rather behind the middle of the dorsal, and 

 extends 2/5 of the distance to the base of the anal. Free portion of the tail rather higher at its base than 

 long. Sciiles — regularly arranged : scutes 27, 11 behind the base of the ventral fin. Colours — bluish green 

 superiorly, gold dotted with purple on the sides and beneath. Generally a row of about six or eight oval spots 

 pass in a line from behind the upper edge of the operele along the side. Upper edge of dorsal with a dark mark. 



Ilahitat. — East Coast of Africa, Sind, coasts of India to the Malay Archipelago. 



13. Clupea toli, Plate CLXII, fig. 2. 



Clnpea Sinensis, Bloch, t. 405; Bl. Schn. p. 424 (? Gmel. Linn. p. 1408). 



Alausa toll, Cuvier and Valenciennes, xx, p. 435 ; Cantor, Catal. p. 299 ; Bleeker, Beng. p. 74. 



Alosa ctenolepis, Bleeker, Haring. p. 32, and Nat. Tyds. Ned. Ind. iii, p. 74. 



Chipea toli and cliapra (not Ham. Buch.) Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 447. 



Alosa toli, Bleeker, Atl. Ich. vii, p. 113, t. 265, f. 4. 



Ooluin, Tamil. 



B. vi, D. 16-17(r|:^), P- 14, V. 9, A. 19.20( Vr'). C. 24, L. 1. 39-40, L. tr. 13-14. 



Length of head 5 to 6|, of caudal 4}, height of body 3^ to 4 in the total length. Eyes — with broad 

 adipose lids, diameter 4j in the length of head, 1 diameter from end of snout, and also apart. Lower jaw 

 rather projecting beyond the upper, which latter is notched at its extremity. Operele 1/2 to 3/4 higher than 

 wide : subopercle tapering posteriorly. Teeth — absent from the jaws. F'ins — dorsal commencing nearer the 

 snout than the base of the caudal fin, its entire base being midway between those two points, it is 1/5 higher 

 than long and concave superiorly. Pectoral as long as the head excluding tlie snout and not reaching the ventral, 

 which latter is inserted under the commencement of the last half of the dorsal fin. Caudal deeply forked, its 

 lobes being longer than the head, especially in adult examples. Caudal peduncle a little longer than deep. 

 Scales — regularly arranged, striated, and with crenulated or jagged edges : fine ones on the caudal fin. Scutes 

 well developed, 17 to 18 before, and 12 to 13 posterior to the base of the ventral fin. The longest gill-rakers 

 in the young, about equal the diameter of the eye, they are said to be longer in some adults. Pseudobranchiae 

 well developed. Colours — silvery, shot with yellow and purple, a dark shoulder spot in the young. 



The eye is compai'atively smaller and the caudal lobes much longer in the adult than in the 

 young. G. macrura is very similar but has L. 1. 44 to 46, and its scales with smooth edges, whilst its longest 

 gill-rakers are stated to be much shorter than the eye. I can find no difference between C. chapra, Giinther, 

 and C. toli, C. V. 



Pi'ofessor Peters (April 4th, 1878) observes of C. Sinensis, Bloch, " We have a dried specimen, which 

 still has an original label, hardly visible, glued to it, and which after a careful examination and comparison, I 

 take for the type of the figure, although it has a black spot on the shoulder, or behind the operculum, not 

 shown in the figure. * * I am of opinion C. Sinensis, Bloch. is C. toli, Cuv. and Val." 



Habitat. — From Bombay through the seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and China. It attains at 

 least 3 feet in length. It does not appear to ascend rivers to breed like the C. ilisha, but is sometimes found at 

 their mouths. The example figured (life-size) was from Bombay. 



14. Clupea melanura. 

 Alama melanurus, Cuv. and Val. xx, p. 441 ; Bleeker, Bali, p. 10, Haring. p. 32; Day, Fish. Malabar, 

 p. 235. 



Clupea melanura, Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 449 ; Bleeker, Atl. Ich. vi, p. Ill, t. cclxix, f. 5. 



B. vi, D. 15-16(T-r-fT), P- 13, V. 8, A. 18-19(-3^'-j^), C. 19, L. 1. 38-40, L. tr. 10-11. 



Length of head 5, of caudal 5, height of body 4 to 5 in the total length. Eyes — with very narrow 

 adipose lids, diameter 3 to 3^ in length of head, 1 diameter from end of snout, 3/4 of a diameter apart. 

 Dorsal profile very nearly straight : abdominal more convex : lower jaw rather longer than the upper : the 

 maxilla extending to beneath the anterior third or middle of the orbit. Teeth — absent, or a few above the 

 symphysis of the lower jaw. Fins — dorsal commences opposite to or slightly in front of ventral, and a little nearer 



* In Dr. Gunther's Catalogue of the Fi.shes in the British Museiitn, he jiWcs Alavj'a toli, Cantor, as a synonym of this specie?, 

 recording amongst the examples present — " a. b. Adult and young, skins. Pinang from Dr. Cantor's collection." This is very 

 misleading, as Dr. Cantor's type was 1 foot 6 inches, a length this species never attains. The longest of the two examples in the 

 British Museum is about 12 inches, and though not Cantor's type, is the true Clu!pea toli, C. V. the smaller specimen is C. kanaguria. 



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