14, ELEOTRIS. 105 



Greenish : back with scattered black dots ; sometimes a series of 

 vertical bands along the lower half of the side ; base of the pectoral 

 dark-coloured ; caudal pointed, with transverse series of blackish 

 dots. 



Coasts of the East Indies. 



«. Adult : skin. Sea of Prnang. From Dr. Cantor's Collection. 

 b, c. Half-grown. China. Presented by Sir J. Eichardson. — Ty-pes 

 of B. aucupatorixis. 



14. ELEOTRIS*. 



Eleotris, pt., Gronov. Mus. Ichthyol. p. IG. 



Eleotris, Cuv. Regne Anim. ; Cuv. Sf Vol. xii. p. 21G. 



Philypnus, Cuv. 8f Vol. xii. p. 255. 



Bostnehthys, (Dimier.) Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 1860, p. 124. 



Culius, lilcek. Boeroe, p. 411. 



Butis, Bleek. Boeroe, p. 412. 



Valenciennea, Bleek. Boeroe, p. 412. 



Belobranchus, Bleek. Bali, p. 300. 



Eleotriodes, Bleek. Goram, p. 212. 



Lembus, Gthr. Acanthapt. i. p. 505. 



Body subcylindrical, scaly ; head oblong ; eyes of moderate size, 

 lateral, not prominent. Teeth small. Two dorsal fins : the anterior 

 with six, sometimes with seven or eight (five) spines. Pectorals with 

 the base not particularly muscular ; ventrals not united, with the 

 space between them narrow, and with one spine and five rays. Gill- 

 openings of moderate width ; branchiostegals five or six (four) ; air- 

 bladder large; pseudobranchiae, a slit behind the fourth gill. Anal 

 papilla distinct. 



Freshwater fishes of the tropics, living at the bottom, some of the 

 species entering the sea. The most northern form occurs in Japan, 

 the most southern one in New Zealand. 



Not one of the genera mentioned above has been founded on 

 such characters that it would comprise those species which show the 

 greatest natural affinity to one another. For instance, E. guavina, 

 belohrancha, sinensis, urophthahnus, and the other species with an 

 oceUus on the tail, are more closely allied to one another than to any 



* 1. Eleotris acanthopomus, Bleek. Sumatra, ii. p. 275. — West Sumatra. 



2. radiata, ( Quoy ^- Gaim.) Cuv. 4" V^al. xii. p. 250. — New Zealand. 



3. wolfRi, Bkek. Blenn. en Goh. p. 253. — Bandjermassing. 



4. melanurus, Bleek. in Verharid. Batav. Genootsch. xxii., Blenn. en 



Gob. p. 21. — Eastern Java. 



6. viridis, Bleek. I. c. p. 22. — Madura. 



6. prismatica, Bleek. I. c. p. 23. — Madura. 



7. gymnopomuB, Bleek. Sumatra, ii. p. 274. — West Sumatra. 



8. Bomnolentus, Girard, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 1858, p. 169. — 



Mouth of the Rio Grande del Norte. 



9. flammans, Cant. Ann. ^ Mag. Nat. Hist. is. p. 484. — Chusan. 



10. trabeatus, Richarda. Ic. Pise. p. 5. pi. 2. fig. 2. — Pepuch Island. 



11. • longipinnis Benn. in Zool. Beech. Voy. p. 64. pi. 20. f. 3. — Loo-Choo. 



12- Atherina danius, Buch. Ham Fish. Gang. p. 222. — Cestrous mininuis, 



M'Clell. Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. ii. p. 151. pi. 4. fig. 2. — Ganges. 



