FISHES OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AND ADJACENT SEAS 775 



median rays; pectoral 11/2 to 1% in head, spine equals and like 

 dorsal spine, rays 10; ventrals nearly or quite reach anal. 



Blackish to chocolate-brown above to bluish brown or light brown 

 on sides, with silvery luster, becoming yellowish white beneath. 

 Dorsal blackish. Adipose fin with blackish or chocolate brown spot. 

 Caudal brown, with clear posterior edge. Upper surface of pectoral 

 blackish brown, underside pale. Ventrals and anal more or less 

 brownish. Length, 260 mm. (Herre.) 



Philippines. 



Order Plectospondyli 



No teeth in jaws. Gill openings restricted. Gill membranes at- 

 tached to isthmus. Pharyngeal bones below scythelike, parallel with 

 gill arches. Two upper pharyngeals. Branchiostegals few, broad, 

 flat, three. Brain case extended between orbits. Opercular bones 

 all present. Parietals broad, distinct. Pterotic normal. Symplec- 

 tic present. No interclavicles. Mesocoracoid present. Shoulder 

 girdle joined to skull. Scales, when present, cycloid. Dorsal fin 

 present. No adipose dorsal. Ventrals abdominal. 



Family CYPRINIDAE 



Body variously deep to elongate. Belly usually rounded, rarely 

 compressed or serrated. Upper jaw edge formed entirely by pre- 

 maxillaries. Barbels 4, 2 or absent. Gill openings moderate, mem- 

 branes joined broadly to isthmus. Gills 4, slit behind fourth. Pseu- 

 dobranchiae usually present. Branchiostegals few, usually 3. Low- 

 er pharyngeal bones well developed, scythe-shaped, nearly parallel 

 with gill arches, each with 1 to 3 rows of teeth in small number, 4 to 

 7 in main row and fewer in others if more present. Air bladder 

 usually large, often divided into front and hind lobe, not enclosed 

 in bony covering and rarely absent. Stomach without appendages, 

 formed simply as enlargement of alimentary canal. Head always 

 naked. Body mostly scaly, seldom naked. Dorsal fin elongate or 

 short. Ventrals abdominal. 



The carps or minnows comprise the most important family in the 

 order to which they belong, and are of interest not only in their 

 numerous divergent species but largely in the myriads of individ- 

 uals and their part in the economy of nature. They far outrank 

 all the other families in genera, species, and individuals and also 

 having representatives in all the countries where these other forms 

 occur. Genera over 200 and species several thousand. 



156861—40 50 



