FISHES OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AND ADJACENT SEAS 753 



interorbital ; nasal barbel I1/3 to 1% in head, maxillary and mental 

 2, mandibular 1% to 1%; front row of maxillary teeth long, stout, 

 conic, others similar but smaller; lower jaw teeth in separated patches, 

 form crescentic band of 4 rows merging to 1 row posteriorly, outer 

 row longest of large conic teeth with rounded tips, others molariform 

 and posterior row largest, short, broad, flat topped; vomerine teeth 

 coarse, rounded, hind or fourth row very large, molariform. Gill 

 rakers 6+7. 



First dorsal I, 4 or 5, length I1/2 to 1% in head, strong spine 

 smooth or toothed and 2I/2 to 2%; second dorsal 95 to 110, high, 

 thick and fleshy in front third; A. 90 to 100, little lower than sec- 

 ond dorsal; pectoral equals first dorsal height, stout spine smooth or 

 barbed before and behind, almost equals first dorsal spine, rays 12 

 or 13 ; ventral 1% to 2 in head, extend upon anal, rays 12 or 13. 



Uniform chocolate brown. Underside of head and belly brown 

 to white. Lips white. Fins darker to blackish. Length, 265 mm. 

 (Her re.) 



Pinang, Malay Peninsula, Singapore, East Indies, Philippines. 

 According to Bleeker reaches 353 mm. 



Family TACHYSURIDAE 



Body moderately long. Head conic or depressed, with conspicu- 

 ous bony plates above which may be covered with skin. Eyes usually 

 with free lids, subcutaneous sometimes. Mouth large or small, trans- 

 verse or crescentic, usually terminally inferior. Maxillary, mandib- 

 ular, and mental barbels usually present, sometimes only maxillary 

 or mandibular present. Teeth in jaws villiform, conic or incisorlike, 

 in 1 or more rows or in bands or patches; palate with or without 

 teeth, which villiform, conic or granular. Nostrils close together, 

 posterior with valve but without barbel. Gill membranes united and 

 joined with or form low fold on isthmus. Branchiostegals 5 to 9. 

 Vertebrae 48 to 58, of which 27 to 33 caudal. Air bladder large, free, 

 normal. Dorsal fin short, with long sharp spine and 7 rays, ad- 

 vanced between paired fins. Anal rays 14 to 26. Adipose fin shorter 

 than dorsal, opposite anal. Caudal deeply forked. Pectoral low, 

 with strong spine. Ventral rays 6. 



A large group, marine or living about the mouths of rivers, la- 

 goons, bays, and rivers in tidal waters. The species are all very 

 similar in a general way, frequently difficult to distinguish, owing 

 to their variable coloration as w^ell as structural characters. The 

 form of the bands or patches of teeth in the jaws and on the palate 

 have been used to group the species into subgenera and genera. 

 They vary greatly with age, the areas far more developed in older 



