3. 



GOMPHOSUS FUSCUS. 



Order^ Thoracic. 



Native Name, (^^t^^yoZJi^oinS^ Koppara Girawah. 

 Kappa?'a, Porpus — Gh-aivah, Parrot. 



G. FUSCUS. Body brown. Gills, dorsal and anal fins brownish red. 



Branchiostegous rays 6. Z)o/-*«/ 22, eight spinous. Pectoral 16. Ventral 6. 

 Anal 14, two spinous. Caudal 14. 



This species of Gomphosus is very rarely to be met with on the 

 southern coast of Ceylon. The Cingalese fishermen admit that it 

 is wholesome ; but that it has nothing to recommend it, whether tor 

 the purposes of sale, or to the natives as an article of food, which 

 may be attributed, next to its scarcity, to its diminutive size. 



The Koppara Girawah inhabits rocky situations. 



Figure — The natural size of the Specimen. 



