﻿56 GANGETic FISHES. Order IV. 



stagnant pools, overgrown with weeds, it is, indeed, almost en- 

 tirely black ; but, in cleaner water, the back is ash-coloured. 

 The fins on the back and tail, and behind the vent, are diapha- 

 nous, not inelegantly variegated with black spots. There is a 

 very dark black spot on each side, at the insertion of the upper 

 edge of the pectoral fin. 



The tail ends in form of a wedge. 



The ^lead is blunt, and forms half an oval, the upper part 

 being flat, and the under convex. It is of a moderate size. 

 The mouth descends obliquely backward, and has fleshy lips, 

 the inferior being rather the longest. There are scarcely any 

 teeth, except a slight roughness in the jaws. Each nostril has 

 two apertures, of which the foremost is tubular. The gill-co- 

 vers are dotted, covered with muscles, and move freely. They 

 leave exposed their memh^anes, each of which contains four 

 rays. 



The back is nearly straight, and the belly arched. There are 

 no lateral lines. The vent is near the middle. The scales are 

 imbricated, of a moderate size, adhere firmly, and are dotted, 

 but are quite smooth on the edge. 



The rays in the first fin of the back are undivided, recurved, 

 and nearly of equal lengths. The second fin is arched, blunt 

 at both ends, and contains ten rays, of which the first is undi- 

 vided, and the others branched ; but the two last approach at 

 the base, and may be considered as one. The pectoral fins are 

 near the middle of the body, and rounded : each contains 

 seventeen rays. The ventral fins are small and sharp, and each 

 contains six rays. The fin behind the vent is opposite to and 

 shaped like the second dorsal, and contains eleven i*ays, of 

 which the first is very short and undivided, and the others are 

 branched. The tail fin contains twenty-seven rays, about six 

 of which on each side are short and undivided. 



