﻿Polynemus. gangetic fishes. 225 



what reason I know not, La Cepede would seem to have alto- 

 gether omitted this fish. > 



The Teria ( Teriya bhanggan) is common in the Gangetic es- 

 tuaries, and in the Calcutta market is often found six feet long. 

 I have been assured, by a credible native, that he saw one, which 

 was a load for six men, and which certainly, therefore, exceed- 

 ed in weight three hundred and twenty pounds avoirdupois. It 

 is considered by the natives as a wholesome diet, although sel- 

 dom used by Europeans. 



The fish, in its form, is compressed, and tapers to both extre- 

 mities. It is scaly and rough. The colours are greenish above, 

 and silver beneath, with the lower fins yellow, and the upper 

 ones dotted. The eyes are silver coloured. 



The head is sharp, narrow, and rough. The nose is dia- 

 phanous. The jaws do not protrude when open, and the un- 

 der one is the shortest. The bones in lieu of the upper lip 

 are scaly. On the palate are irregularly crowded numerous 

 minute teeth. The tongue is free, blunt, very short, and 

 smooth. On the fore part of the palate are three bones, cover- 

 ed with teeth, a small three-sided one in the centre, and an ob- 

 long one on each side. The throat on each side has oblong 

 naked bones. The nostrils are in the middle, between the 

 eye and jaw; the foremost of their apertures is the smal- 

 lest. The eyes are high, and far forward. They are globular, 

 with the longest diameters of their pupils vertical. The gill- 

 covers are rounded, and smooth-edged, and each contains two 

 plates, of which the foremost is small. Their membranes are 

 half concealed, and each contains seven rays. The edges of 

 the outer gills are prickly, those of the inner are covered with 

 knobs. 



The back forms an arch, and is transversely rounded. The 

 belly is flat. The lateral line descends from the end of the 



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