﻿164 GANGETic FISHES. Order V. 



equal in size, very small, and crowded together. The fore 

 part of the palate has a crescent-shaped bone covered with 

 teeth, and divided into four lobes. At the throat there are 

 four bones covered with teeth ; the two above are half spheres; 

 the under ones diverge, are narrow, and end in a point. The 

 openings of the iiostrils are circular; the foremost at the notch 

 above the jaw, and the other nearer the jaw than the eye. The 

 eyes are half way up the head, far forward, flat, and of a mode- 

 rate size. The gilUcovers have one plate with little covering, 

 and are marked with waving lines, end in a point, and expose 

 to view a thick membrane, containing ten rays on each side. 

 Under the throat there is no slit. 



The ridge of the back before the fin is rather sharp, and is 

 covered by a waved bone, which, on each side, sends down a 

 process to join the shoulder-bone, and this projects with a point 

 over the pectoral fins. The sides slope outward. The lateral 

 line is high up, straight, and smooth ; and the shin, although 

 opaque, is marked by the muscles, the marks uniting at the 

 lateral line. The vent is nearly in the middle. The tail, near- 

 its end, is a little dilated, and divided into two lobes. 



The foremost back fin is near the head, and slopes rapidly 

 from the end of the second prickle to that of the last ray. It 

 contains nine rays, of which the first is a very short triangular 

 bone, the second a long strong prickle, ending in a substance 

 like whalebone, and being indented on both edges ; the other 

 seven rays are branched. The hinder fin is far back, and 

 soniewhat of a hooked form, but blunt. The pectorals are 

 low, nearly as long as the head, and sharp above ; each con- 

 tains twelve rays, of which the first is like the second in the 

 back fin ; the others are branched. The ventral fms are much 

 smaller than the pectorals, and are separated some distance 

 from each other : each has six soft rays, of which the first is 



