﻿14 GANGETic FISHES. Older I. 



head. The pupils are circular. The rajs of the gill-covers 

 are very indistinct, and the open'wgs of the gill-covers are very 

 small, and placed on the sides of the neck. 



The back is straight and concave, bounded on each side by 

 an acute, very entire, angle or ridge. The sides have a blunt 

 longitudinal ridge along their middle. The belly is straight, and 

 an angle or ridge runs along its middle to the vent, where, 

 dividing into two, its branches unite with the sharp ridges, 

 separating the sides from the belly. On the fore part of each 

 side there are two lateral lines, dotted with white. The scales, 

 or belts, by which the animal is surrounded, are striated and 

 sprinkled with dots. 



The back-Jin, placed near the middle of the fish, contains 

 twenty-five rays. The pectorals and tail Jin are rounded, and 

 contain each ten rays. 



3d Species. — Syngnatiius deocata. 



A syngnathus with a six-sided body, and four fins. 



The S. harharus is said, in their descriptions by Bonnaterre, 

 (Tabl. Encycl. p. SI, T. XXI. f. 74,) and by La Cepede, (Hist, 

 des Poissons, Tome II. p. 48,) to have no tail fin ; but, in the 

 figure given by the former, it is represented with that organ, 

 and has a strong resemblance to our fish. 



The deocata 1 have found in the Tista, Kuwarlayi, and 

 other rivers of Puraniya, or Mithila, in the north of Bengal 

 and Behar. It is of a brown colour, with the sides of the bel- 

 ly below the lateral lines beautifully variegated with red and 

 blue ; but, when the female breeds, these bright colours dis- 

 appear, except on the margins of the belly, which become 

 yellow, and are dilated, in order to receive two rows of glo- 

 bular yellow eggs, each row containing about twenty, which 



adhere to the belly, until hatched. 



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