2. AMPHisiLE. 525 



which is formed by portions of the skeleton ; the longitudinal axis 

 of the tail is not in the same line with that of the trunk. Scales 

 none. Teeth none. Two dorsal fins situated on the hindmost 

 part of the back ; ventral fins rudimentary, abdominal. Three or 

 four branchiostegals ; gill-opening of moderate width, four gills and 

 pseud obranchiae ; air-bladder large ; pyloric appendages none. 

 From the eastern coasts of Africa to the seas of China. 



1. Amphisile scutata. 



Valent Amh. iiiVp. 420. figs. 243 & 254; Seha, iii. p. 107. tab. 34. fig. 5; 



Ruysch. Coll. Amh. tab. 3. no. 7. 

 Centriscus scutatus, L. Syst. Nat. i. p. 415; Bl. i. p. 57. taf. 123. fig. 2 ; 



Bl. Schn. p. 1 13 ; Ln^-cp. ii. p. 88, i. pi. 19. fig. 2 ; Shau\ Zool. v. 



p. 458. pi. 181. 

 Centriscus, sp., Gronor. Zoophyl. no. 396. tab. 7. fig. 3. 

 Amphisile scutata, Ciiv. Bigne Anim. ; Gu^r. Iconogr. Poiss. pi. 45. fig. 3. 

 Centriscus scutatus, Gronov. Syst. ed. Gray, p. 138. 



B. 3. D. 3 I 10-12. A. 12. C. 10. P. 10. V. 3. Vert;. 6/14. 



The dorsal cuirass tenninates in a long spine, to which no separate 

 dorsal spine is joined ; the distance of the posterior mdrgin of the 

 operculum from the pectoral fin is twice its distance from the eye. 

 Body immaculate. 



East Indian and Cninese Seas. 



a. Adult. Singapore. 



6. Adult. Philippine Islands. Purchased of Mr. Cuming. 



c-i. Adult: dried. China. 



k. Half- grown. From the Haslar Collection. 



Description. — The body of this singular fish is so thin, that it has 

 the appearance as if it had been artificially compressed between two 

 sheets of paper ; the diameter at its thickest part is scarcely more 

 than the M'idth of the orbit. It is rather elongate, tapering into tbe 

 long compressed rostral tube anteriorly and terminating in a long 

 spine posteriorly. The greater portion of the body is transparent, 

 especially the rostral tube, the place occupied by the air-bladder, and 

 the broad membranaceous margin of the lower parts. The whole head 

 and back are cuirawsed with smooth bony plates, whilst the abdomen 

 is covered with a very tough skin ; and only the small portion of the 

 tail which projects below the end of tbe dorsal plates is naked, soft, 

 moveable, and the only organ of locomotion in these fishes. 



The head is so joined to the trunk by a transvei-se suture between 

 the occiput and the first dorsal plate, that only a limited vertical and 

 horizontal motion is possible. The mouth is extremely small and 

 toothless. The eye is of moderate size, the length of its diameter 

 being one-half of the extent of the head behind it. The crown of 

 the head is much compressed, minutely striated and crenulated, and 

 with a longitudinal groove extending to between the orbits ; the 

 width of the interorbital space is rather less than that of the orbit. 

 The fostral tube is compressed into a cutting edge superiorly. The 

 nostrils are minute openings, very close together, situated one' before 



