﻿160 GANGETic FISHES. Order V. 



The back, from the fin to the head, descends much, and is 

 covered with a bony plate marked with lines, and extending to 

 the nape. At each side it is divided into two processes, the 

 foremost of which descends to the opening of the gills. The 

 shoulder-bones are almost naked, and end in a sharp point. The 

 lateral Imes are bent downward. The vent has two openings, 

 and is behind the middle. 



The first fin of the back is before the middle, and has eight 

 rays, of which the first is a very short thick bone ; the second 

 is a very strong prickle, indented with blunt teeth before, and 

 with sharp ones behind ; the other six rays are branched, 

 and the last of them is divided to the bottom into two. The 

 second back fin is far behind the middle. The pectoral fins are 

 small, and each contains nine rays, of which the first is like 

 the second of the back fin. The rays in each ventral fin are 

 six in number, and of the fin behind the vent twenty-one, of 

 which the first six are undivided, and gradually lengthen from 

 the first ; the last fifteen are branched. The tail fin is divided 

 into two sharp lobes, containing nineteen distinct rays, with 

 some small compacted ones at the sides. 



VII. Genus. — Pimelodus. 

 Fishes of the fifth order, with a slimy skin, destitute of 

 scales or fleshy warts ; with the mouth surrounded by ten- 

 drils ; and with two back fins, of which the hinder one has 

 no rays. 



1st Species.— Pimelodus silondia. Plate VII. Fig. 5(X 

 A Pimelodus with two tendrils, and an opaque body. 

 This fish is very common in the Gangetic estuaries, and is 

 considered by the natives as good for eating. It commonly 

 grows to three feet in length, and occasionally to twice that 



