46 



posterior or outer edge, and form three small tapering 

 lobes, of which the middle one is the smallest. The gra- 

 nulations of the surface of this lip extend inwards to the 

 cavity of the mouth, without any defined edge of tennina- 

 tiou. Figure 3, Plate 29, shows the orifice of the mouth 

 too round, the lobes at the corner of the mouth too small, 

 and without fringes, and the lower lip also incorrect in out- 

 line. The wood-cut is introduced to remedy these defects, 

 and exhibits the mouth nearly closed. The mouth opens 

 simply by the depression of the lower jaw, bringing forward 

 the lowerend of the maxillaries. The intermaxillaries,being 

 slender, straight bones, without pedicles, are incapable of 

 protraction. Their length corresponds to the breadth of the 

 lip, which they cross with some obliquity, and they are 

 articulated to a small bony tubercle, posterior to the nasal 

 barbel. The maxillary descends from near the tip of the 

 snout, concealed by the integuments, to the articulation of 

 the intermaxillary, and there makes a bend, when its slen- 

 der limb becomes visible, and gradually widens into a flat, 

 yet nanow disk, which reaches the corner of the mouth. 

 Between the rostral barbel and the middle of the upper lip 

 there is a a smooth mesial furrow, and on each side of it, 

 inclining towards the corners of the mouth, a short, 

 rounded, scaly ridge. A deep fold runs back from the 

 snout along the under edge of the preorbitar and cheek, 

 to the articulation of the lower jaw, under the middle of 

 the orbit. This fold entirely covers the retracted maxil- 

 lary. It is scaly, as are all the parts on the head, except 

 the lips and the angles of the mouth and lower jaw, which 

 fold inwards when the orifice is shut. Within the upper 

 lip there is a broad thick velum ; the inside of the mouth 

 is lined with purplish-black smooth membrane ; the vomer 

 shows a narrow, smooth surface, running to the end of the 

 snout, and on each side of it is the vaulted palate-bone. The 

 basilar bone joins the vomer evenly, and there is no thick 

 cushion on the upper surface of the fauces, such as may 

 be observed in the Carps, neither does the gorget-shaped 

 basilar process of the Catastomi exist, its office being per- 

 formed by a group of teeth on each side of the mesial 

 line, connected to the basilar bone by the intervention of 

 soft parts. These teeth aie short, cylindrical, and trun- 

 cated or worn on the tips, nineteen in each group above, 

 and twenty-four in the single mesial cluster below. Four 

 branchial arches lie entirely behind these teeth, remote 

 from the orifice of the mouth, and furaished with long, 

 slenderly subulate, interior rakers. 



The three gill-rays are inserted contiguously into the 

 extremity of the os hyoides, the upper one, which lies be- 

 neath the suboperculum, being much broader than the 

 other two, particularly towards its end. The gill-mem- 

 brane is scaly, with smooth, longitudinal lines on the 

 throat where it folds, and, in fact, the whole head is densely 

 scaly, except the few smooth parts that have been men- 

 tioned. The hinder edge of the operculum is curved in 

 the segment of a circle, but a small scaly flap attached to 

 the round of the suboperculum renders the opening verti- 

 cal, the gill-membrane being blended with the throat un- 

 derneath. In the dried specimen, the preopercuhnn shows 

 a horizontal under limb, considerably longer than the ver- 

 tical one, which it meets at a right angle. The inner edge 

 of the disk is more prominent than the outer one, and lies 



in the same horizontal line with the lower edge of the pre- 

 orbitar. The corner of the bone is shortly rounded. In 

 the recent fish the scaly integument entirely conceals the 

 bones. 



The pectorals, about equal to the head in length, are 

 attached beneath the middle height, close to the gill- 

 opening, and are oblique on the margin, their lower rays 

 becoming gradually shorter. All the rays, eleven in num- 

 ber, are much branched, except the uppermost and lower- 

 most, which are nearly simple, but jointed like the rest, 

 and they are all scaly for more than half their length. 

 Above the fin there is a long, triangular, tapering, acute, 

 scaly appendage. There is no free appendage beneath 

 the fin, but the lower ray is edged by a slip of scaly inte- 

 gument. The truncated ventrals, containing nine rays, 

 the last one deeply divided, are placed fully one-half of 

 the entire length of the fish behind the attachment of the 

 pectorals. They are scaly to an equal extent with these 

 fins, and have a similar appendage above, and none below. 

 The dorsal is opposite to the ventrals, and contains eleven 

 jointed rays, which decrease in length from the second one 

 backwards. The first, which is as tall as the second one, 

 is the only unbranched one; and incumbent on its base 

 there are three very short, thin, unjointed rays. This fin 

 is covered at the base by small scales, which rise from the 

 back with the forward movement of the rays, leaving a 

 smooth line underneath posteriorly. Minute scales also 

 run up between the rays beyond the middle of the fin. 

 The anal, placed midway between the caudal and dorsal, 

 is smaller than the latter fin, but of similar form, and con- 

 tains seven jointed rays, all branched but the first one, 

 before the base of which there are two tapering rays, with- 

 out joints, but apparently with flexible tips. The scales 

 are disposed on this fin in the same way as on the dorsal. 

 The caudal does not exceed a tenth of the length of the 

 fish, is nearly even at the end when fully extended, and is 

 composed of nineteen rays, with thi'ee short ones above 

 and below. 



The scales are oblong, with nearly parallel sides, a 

 truncated base, and the free end curved in the segment of 

 a circle, and strongly ciliated. The basal part is marked 

 by fan-like furrows, which radiate from a point considera- 

 bly beyond the middle of the scale. When in s/lii, a 

 large part of the scale is covered, the circular tip only 

 being exposed. There are about 178 scales between the 

 gill-opening and caudal fin, and twenty-eight or thirty in 

 a vertical line. 



The upper part of the specimens have a glaucous-grey 

 hue, the lower part being reddish, and the two tints meet 

 without mixing in a straight line below the middle. The 

 lateral line is straight, with a scarcely perceptible bend 

 over the ventrals. When examined with a lens, the unco- 

 vered disk of a scale appears to be lead grey, studded with 

 black dots. 



There are large black patches on all the fins, except 

 the anal, in which the posterior coj-ner merely of the fin 

 appears to have been darkish. 



The intestinal canal descends in form of a slender tube 

 for an inch and three quarters in the specimen we exa- 

 mined, and then joins an oval muscular stomach of the 

 size of a kidney-bean, close to its fundus, or lower end. 



