444 MTJGILTDiE. 



rather produced, obtusely pointed, its length being nearly equal to 

 the width of the interorbital space, which is contained twice and 

 three-fourths in the length of the head. The cleft of the mouth is 

 subsemicircular ; the prseorbital has an obtuse longitudinal ridge, and 

 does not entirely cover the maxillary bone. Eyes without adipose 

 membrane ; nostrils close togethei', somewhat nearer to the orbit 

 than to the extremity of the snout. Lips not thick, not covered by 

 the nasal bones. There is a lanceolate space at the chin which is 

 not covered by the mandibulary bones. Twenty-seven or twenty- 

 eight scales between the spinous dorsal and the end of the snout. 

 The two anterior dorsal spines are half as long as the head. The 

 fifteenth and the twenty-ninth scales of the lateral line correspond 

 to the origins of the two dorsal fins. The root of the pectoral fin 

 is on the middle of the body. Dark lines along the series of scsfles. 

 Coasts and rivers of the Cape. 



a. Type of the species : stufi'ed. From Sir A. Smith's Collection. 



38. Mugil cryptochilus. 

 Cuv.^■ Val. xi. p. 61. 



D. 4 1 1. A. |. L. lat. 45. 



The nasal bones are advanced, so as to cover the upper lip when 

 the mouth is closed. The praeorbital does not entirely cover the 

 maxillary. The length of the head is one-fifth of the total, or thrice 

 the diameter of the eye. Eye without adipose membrane. Pectoral 

 long, falciform, with the lanceolate scale in the axil short ; scale at 

 the base of the spinous dorsal long, extending beyond the posterior 

 sjiine. Caudal deeply forked, with the upper lobe longest. ( Val.^ 



The single specimen observed is eight inches long. 



Nile. 



39. Mugil axillaris. 



P Mugil axillaris, Cuv. ^- Val. xi. p. 131. 



Mugil axillaris, Bleek. Natuurk. Ti/dschr. Nederl Ind. iv. 1853, p. 266, 



and Act. Soc. Sc. Indo-Ncderl. viii., Sumatra, ix. p. 3. 

 parsia, Bleek. Natuurk. Tljdschr. Nederl. Ind. iii. 1852, p. 166. 



D. 4 I _L. A. i-. L. lat. 42-43. L. transv. 13-14. 



The height of the body is contained four times and a half to five 

 times and a half in the total length, the length of the head four 

 times and a half to six times and a fifth ; the cUameter of the eye is 

 one-thii-d or one-fom-th, the width of the interorbital space one-half 

 of the length of the head. Adipose eyelid not developed ; the prae- 

 orbital is scarcely emarginate and indistinctly denticulated ; snout 

 shorter than the orbit ; upper Hp rather fleshy ; maxiUary hidden. 

 There are twenty-one scales between the snout and the origin of 

 the spinous dorsal ; an elongate scale in the axil. Dorsal fins nearly 

 equal in height : the spines are rather slender, and the length of the 

 fif»t equals the length of the head behind the orbit ; it stands on the 



