16. AMBLYOPUS. 133 



Second Group. AMBLYOPINA. 



The two dorsal tius united into one. Vertebnc 11/17. 



16. AMBLYOPUS*. 



Gobioides, Lacep. ii. p. 280 ; Cuv. ^- Val. xii. p. 1:39. 

 Amblyopus, Cia\ >J(- Val. xii. p. 157. 



Body elongcate, naked, or with minute rudimentary .scales ; head 

 oblong, quadiilateral, with the cleft of the mouth directed upwards, 

 and with the lower jaw prominent. Gill-openmgs of moderate 

 width. Eyes very small, more or less hidden. Teeth in a baud, 

 the anterior ones being very strong. One long dorsal fin, the five 

 anterior ra5^s being simple, and separated from the soft portion by 

 an interspace ; a sixth simple ray between the anterior ones and 

 the soft portion ; dorsal and anal more or less continuous with the 

 caudal. Ventral fins united. Urancliiostegals foiu\ Air-bladder 

 absent, or very small ; giUs foiu- ; pseudobrauchias none. 



A tropical genus, confined to the coasts, estuaries, and fi-esh waters 

 of the East Indies, extending northwards to China and Japan ; one 

 species from the west coast of South America. 



1. Amblyopus caeculus. 



? Gobius angiuUaris, L. Si/st. i. p. 450 ; £1. Schn. p. 71. 



PCepola ccecida, Bl. Schn. p. 241. tab. 54. 



Amblyopus ccBculus, Cuv. ^ Val. xii. p. 165. 



hemianiiianus, Cantor, Catal. p. 190 (not Criv. H, Val). 



D.A. A. 45. 



■ 43-44 



The length of the head is one-eighth of the total, or four-sevenths 

 of the distance between the root of the ventral and the vent. Pec- 

 toral short; dorsal and anal fins scarcely united with the caudal, 

 and enveloped in a thick skin. The lower jaw with small barbels! 

 Body naked. 



Estuaries and fi-esh waters of Bengal and China. 



a. Adult : skin. Sea of Pinang. From Dr. Cantor's Collection.— 



Type of Dr. Cantor's description. 

 h. Half-grown. Madras. Presented by T. C. Jerdon, Esq. 

 c, d-f. Adult and half-grown. China. 



J. Adidt. Canton. From the Collection of the Zoological Society. 

 h, I. Adult and half-grown. From the Haslar Collection. 



* 1. Amblyopus roseus, Cuik 4- Val. xii. p. 164.— Bombay. 



2- ^^eruptionis, Bleek. Verhand. Batav. Genoofsi-h. isii., Blcnn. en Gob. 



p. 38. — East Java ; Amboyna. 



3. lacepedii, Schkg. Fa„„. Japon. Foiss. p. 146. pi. 73. fig. 2.— Japan. 



4. nigosius, Euh:,r,h. Ivhth. China, p. 207.— China. Typical speci- 

 mens m the Cambridge Museum. 



