﻿122 GANGETic FISHES. Order IV". 



X. Genus. — CHiETOuoN. 

 Fishes of the fourth order, with the edges of all the bones 

 of the head smooth ; with the sides much compressed, co- 

 vered with scales, and high in proportion to the length of 

 the body, and having in each jaw a single row of slender teeth 

 parallel and close to each other. 



1st Species. — Ch^etodon fairatalis. Plate XIV. Fig. 41. 



A chcetodon with the tail fin rounded at the end ; with ele- 

 ven prickles and sixteen soft rays in the back fin ; with the bo- 

 dy spotted ; and with a bristle-like elongation from each ven- 

 tral fin. 



I should have supposed this fish to be the Chcetodon argus 

 of naturalists, were it not for the following circumstances: 

 These authors take no notice of the bristle-like production 

 from the ventral fins. They represent the posterior edge of 

 the tail fin as having the form of a crescent, with a slight con- 

 vexity in the middle, so that it may almost be said to be tri- 

 fid. Dr Russell (Indian Fishes, Vol. I. No. 78) represents 

 the colour of the argus to be brownish, with a brighter gloss 

 below, and a yellowish breast ; and the spots on his fish are 

 fewer in number, and smaller, than on ours.^ In the figures 

 given by Bonnaterre, (Encyclop. Method.) and by Bloch, 

 {Ichth. Planche CCIV. Fig. 1,) the spots resemble those de- 

 scribed by Dr Russell, and in Bloch are made to extend over 

 the fins of the back, and behind the vent, which, in our fish, have 

 no spots. The figure of Bloch besides represents the gill-co- 

 vers as devoid of scales. 



The Pairatalis is found in the mouths of the Ganges, and, 

 when newly caught, is a fish of great beauty, easy digestion, and 

 excellent flavour ; but, after death, it soon becomes soft and 

 strong tasted. It grows to a foot in length, is very narrow in 



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