﻿238 GANGETic FISHES. Order V. 



and one hundred and thirty rays, but the skin is so thick that 

 the exact number cannot be ascertained. 



XVI. Genus. — Clupea. 



Fishes of the fifth order, with teeth in the jaws ; with an 

 oblong scaly body, sharp-edged beneath ; with one fin on the 

 back ; and with the fin behind the vent distinct from that of 

 the tail. 



The species of Clupea^ which I have seen in the Ganges, be- 

 sides the circumstances mentioned in the generic character, 

 have in common the following particulars : 



The body, in proportion to its depth, is longer than in the last 

 described genus, but is almost as much compressed at the 

 sides, and resembles the iron of a lance. The lower edge, 

 however, from the throat to the extremity, is very sharp, and, 

 except where there is a fin, is toothed like a saw. 



The head is devoid of scales, small, and much compressed. 

 There are scarcely any lips ; but two flat bones in some mea- 

 sure supply the place of the upper one. 



The body is covered with large smooth scales^ easily remov- 

 ed, and above each pectoral and ventral fin is a scale-like ap- 

 pendant. 



The pectoral fins are low on the side. The ventral fins are 

 small, and each has seven rays. The fin behind the vent extends 

 almost the whole length of the tail. 



1st Species. — Clupea purava. 



A Clupea with the hinder end of each bone of the upper lip 

 lengthened out into a dagger-like process ; with forty-six rays 

 in the fin behind the vent ; with the fin of the tail divided into 

 two sharp lobes ; and with no spots on the body. 



This fish seems scarcely different from the Peddah Pooramak 



