12. PERIOPHTHALMUS. Q"? 



is enveloped in muscles, and scaly, and these extremities can be 

 used for locomotion on firm ground. Ventrals more or less united. 

 Gill-openings rather narrow ; branchiostegals five ; air-bladder ab- 

 sent, pseudobranchiae rudimentary ; a slit behind the fourth gill. 



A tropical genus : inhabitants of the coasts and of fresh waters 

 near the sea. West Africa ; from the Red Sea and the Seychelles to 

 the Islands of the Western Pacific, and from the coasts of China 

 and Japan to those of North-west Australia. 



These fishes are able to progress out of the water on humid places 

 and to hunt after their prey, which consists of terrestrial insects, &c. 



1. Periophtlialinus koelreuteri. 



Valent. iii. p. 391. fig. 140 ; Renard, i. 16. 65 ; Seha, iii. 29. 17 ; Koi-l- 



reuter in m)v. Comm. Petrop, viii. p. 421. 

 ? Gobius barbarus, L. Gm. i. p. 1201 ; Bl. Schn. p. 70. 

 Gobius koelreuteri, Pall. Spieil. viii. p. 8. tab. 2. fig. 1. 

 Periophthalmus koelreuteri, Bl. Schn. p. 65. 



B. 5. D. 10-15 I 12. A. 11. L. lat. 90-100. Vert. 11/15. 



The second dorsal fin with a black, generally white-edged longi- 

 tudinal band in its upper half. The first dorsal not, or sometimes, 

 in young individuals, only slightly, produced. About twenty teetli 

 in each jaw. Ventrals separated from each other in adult and im- 

 mature specimens. 



Var. O. P. KOELKEUTEEI. 



Syn. — Periophthalmus koelreuteri, Cuv. <§- Val. xii. p. 181; Riipp. 

 N. W. Fische, p. 140. 



kalolo. Less. Voy. Coq. Zool. ii. p. 146 ; Bianconi, Spec. 



Moss. p. 253. 



Light olive-brown, with silvery and brown dots, the former pre- 

 valent on the head, the latter on the sides of the body. The first 

 dorsal blackish-violet, with a black band near, and parallel to, the 

 margin, which is white ; a few whitish spots posteriorly on the base. 

 The lower half of the second dorsal and the interior surface of the 

 ventrals white-dotted ; pectoral and caudal with brown dots. 



From the Red Sea and the Seychelles to the coasts of Australia 

 and the Islands of the Western Pacific. 



a. Three inches long. Ceylon. From the Collection of Messrs. von 

 Schlagintweit. — This specimen has the first dorsal spine pro- 

 duced beyond the membrane. 

 h-e. Three to four inches long. India. Presented by G. R. Water- 

 house, Esq. — The differences in the stnicture of the first dorsal 

 fin appear to be quite accidental in the individuals, and are to 

 be observed even in very young specimens. Two of the pre- 

 sent four have the first dorsal spine slightly produced beyond 

 the membrane, like specimen a ; in the third, the first dorsal 

 is rounded, as in adult specimens with twelve spines ; in tlie 

 fourth it is injured. 

 /. Adult. Philippine Islands. 



VOL. ni. u 



