﻿198 GANGETic FISHES. Order V. 



lobes ; with eight tendrils, of which two only are a little longer 

 than the head ; with a smooth opaque yellowish body ; with 

 seventeen rays in the fin behind the vent ; and with eight in 

 the foremost of the back. 



The Gagata grows to about a foot in length, and is pretty 

 common both in the fresh water rivers and estuaries of Ben- 

 gal ; but it is full of small bones, and of a very indifferent fla- 

 vour. It is not very long in proportion to its depth, but a good 

 deal compressed, and much more prominent above than below, 

 and contracts somewhat suddenly at the hinder fin of the back, 

 and at that of the vent. The back is of a purplish-brown co- 

 lour, the sides yellow, and the belly white. The fins are edged 

 with black. 



The head is half oval, straight below, and a little arched 

 above. It is blunt, and its upper part is covered by a bony plate, 

 in most parts variously waved with intersecting lines, and ex- 

 tending along the back and sides in three processes. The pro- 

 cess on each side is divided into two branches, embracing a 

 soft oblong tumour. From the nose back to the end of this 

 bony plate there is a cavity surrounded by a smooth ridge, and 

 each ridge has, adjacent to its outer side, two smooth spaces. 

 Above and below each eye there ia also a ridge, the upper ter- 

 minating at the nostril, and the lower at the jaw. The two ten- 

 drils from the nostrils, and the four from the chin, are much 

 shorter than the head ; but the two from the sides of the up- 

 per jaw are rather longer, and have a membrane extending half 

 way along their hinder edge. The mouth is small, and a little 

 behind and below the extremity of the nose. The under Ja?v 

 has a slight ridge in the centre. The lips are fleshy. In both 

 jaws are crowded many minute teeth. The tongue and palate are 

 smooth. Both apertures of each nostril are circular, are nearer 

 the jaw than the eye, and are separated only by the tendril. 



