FAMILY, VIII— NOTOPTERID^. 6-53 



Family, VIII— NOTOPTERID^. 



PseudobranchiaB absent. Body oblong, or more or less elongated and compressed. Tail prolonged and 

 tapering. Margin of the upper jaw formed by the premaxillaries mesially, and the maxillaries laterally. 

 Opercular apparatus incomplete, the subopercle being absent. A parieto-mastoid cavity on either side of the 

 head connected with the interior of the skull. Barbels absent. Dorsal fin, if present, single, and belonging to 

 the caudal portion of the vertebral column : ventrals rudimentary or absent : anal fin with numerous rays and 

 confluent with the caudal. Head and body with small scales. Lateral-line present. Abdominal edge 

 serrated anterior to the ventral fins. Stomach without any blind sac. Two pyloric appendages. Air-vessel 

 present, and sub-divided internally. Branchiostegal rays from 3 to 9. The ova fall into the cavity of the 

 abdomen before exclusion. 



Geographical distribution. — Fresh and brackish waters of West Africa, also of the continent of India to 

 the Malay Archipelago. 



Genus, 1 — Notopterus, Lacepede. 



Ilijstus, sp. Ham. Buch. : Xeiiomystus, Giinther. 



Branchiostegals from 3 to 9. OiU-memhranes partly united. Snout ohtuse, convex. Muciferous channels on. 

 head well-developed. Cleft of mouth lateral. Preopercle and occasionally some of the other bones of the head 

 serrated. Teeth in jaws, vomer, palatine and sphenoid bones, also on the tongue. Dorsal fin present (Notoptterus) 

 or absent (Xenomystus) . Ventrals when present, rudimentary and united together. Air-vessel divided internally, 

 ivith two horns anteriorly, which are in connection with the auditory organs : posteriorly it likewise ends in two 

 branches vjhich become divided from one another by the hcemal spines. Intestines short. Ccecal pylori Jong. 



Geographical distribution. — The species without dorsal fins appear to be confined to West Afi-ica : the 

 remainder are Asiatic or African. 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 



1. Notffj)terus hapirat, A. 100-110. Scales on cheeks much larger than on body. Maxilla does not 

 extend beyond the hind edge of orbit. India to the Malay Archipelago. 



2. Notopterus chitala, A. 110-125. Scales on cheeks not much larger than on body. Maxilla extends far 

 beyond hind edge of orbit. Sind and India to the Malay Ai-chipelago. 



1. Notopterus kapirat, Plate CLIX, fig. 4. 



Gipnnotus notopterus, Pallas, Spec. Zool. 7, p. 40, t. vi, f. 2 ; Bonn. Tab. End. p. 37, pi. 25, f. 83 ; Gmel. 

 Linn. p. 1139. 



Clupea sinura, Bl. Schn. p. 42t5. 



Notopterus hapirat, Lacep. ii, p. 190; Gray, Zool. Misc. 1831, p. 16 ; Val. in Belanger, Voy. Ind. Or. p. 

 391, pi. 5, f. 1 ; Bleeker, Notop. p. 55, t. vi, and Atl. Ich. vi, p. 146, t. 276, f. 1 ; Richard. Ich. China, p. 308; 

 Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1849, p. 343 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 480. 



Mystus kapirat. Ham. Buch. Fish. Ganges, pp. 235, 382 ; Gray and Hard. 111. Ind. Zool. 



Mystus badjee, Sykes, Trans. Z. S. ii, p. 376, pi. 67, i. 2. 



Notopterus Pallasii and Bontianus, Cuv. and Val. xsi, pp. 130, 147, pi. 613; Bleeker, Chiroc. p. 17. 



Moh, But and Purri, Punj. : Moh, N.W. Prov. : Pholoe, Beng. : Ambutan-wahlah or ' Barber's knife' and 

 Cliota wahlah. Tarn. : Wallak-tattah, Mysore : Pulli or ' a slice,' Ooriah : Kan-doo-lee, Assam. : Nga-hpeh and 

 Nga-phe, Burm. 



B. viii, D. 7-8(i:-^), P. 17, V. 5-6, A. 100-110, C. 19, L. r. 225, Vert. 15/54. 



Length of bead 5 to 5-1-, of caudal fin 12, height of body 3^ to 4 in the total length. Eyes— dia.mt'ter 

 41 to 5 in the length of head, 2/3 to 1 diameter from the end of snout, and 1 apart. Dorsal profile not so convex 

 as that of tlie abdomen. The maxilla reaches to below the middle of the orbit. Preorbital serrated : lower 

 edcfe of preopercle with a double serrated margin. Teeth — an external I'ow of strong curved ones in either jaw, 

 with an internal finer one. Several rows of fine teeth in vomer and palate : some also present on the tongue. 

 Plus — dorsal commences nearly midway between the snout and end of the caudal fin. Scales — those on the 

 cheeks much larger than those on the body : about 28 serrations along the abdominal edge between the throat 

 and the insertion of the ventral fin. Colours — silvery, dai-kest on the back : some gloss of yellow about the 

 head. Numerous fine grayish spots everywhere. Upper surface of dorsal whitish. Eyes golden. 



Habitat. — Fresh and brackish waters of India to the Malay Archipelago. Grow to 2 feet or more in 

 length. 



