454 CLtTPEID^. 



9. PELLONA*. 



Pellona, Cfuv. ^ Val. xx. p. 300. 



Body much compressed, with the thorax and abdomen strongly 

 serrated. Scales of moderate size, rarely small. Lower jaw pro- 

 minent. Cleft of the mouth of moderate width ; rasp-like bands of 

 minute teeth on the palatine and pterygoid bones and on the tongue ; 

 none on the vomer. Anal fin very long, many-rayed (37-54) ; 

 dorsal fin behind the ventrals, sometimes opposite to the anterior 

 anal rays. Ventral fins present but small • the upper pectoral ray 

 strong. Caudal fin deeply forked. 



Tropical parts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. 



I should have placed these fishes in a subgeneric division of 

 Pristigaster, if the presence of the ventral fins had been the only 

 character by which the genus could be distinguished ; but it has also 

 a considerably shorter anal fin. Some of the species lead off to Pris- 

 tigaster ; and these are placed last in the following arrangement : — 



a. Dorsal fin in iront of anal, its origin not being nearer to the caudal 



than to the end of the snout, p. 454. 



b. Dorsal fin partly opposite to the anterior anal rays, its origin being 



nearer to the caudal than to the end of the snout, p. 457. 



c. Dorsal fin entirely opposite to the anal, p. 459. 



a. Doricdjin in front of anal, its origin not being nearer to the cavdal than 



to the end of the snout. 



1. Pellona flavipinnis. 



Pristigaster flavipinnis, Valenc. in D'Orb. Voy. Amer. Merid. Poiss. 



nl. 10. fig. 2. 

 Pellona orbignyana, Cuv. 8f Val. xx. p, 302. 

 castelnaeana, Cuv. Sf Val. xx. p. 306. 



D. 19-20. A. 40. L. lat. 65. L. transv. 18. 



The height of the body is contained thrice and two-fifths in the 

 total length (without caudal), the length of the head thrice and 

 four-fifths. The diameter of the eye is one-fourth of the length of 

 the head. The posterior halves of the ridges on the upper surface 

 of the head are distinctly convergent anteriorly, and very slightly 

 so posteriorly. Origin of the dorsal fin midway between the end of 

 the snout and the root of the caudal. Length of the base of the 

 anal fin two-sevenths of the total length (without caudal). Ventral 

 fins longer than the eye. 



Atlantic coasts of South America. 



a. Adult. Surinam. Purchased of Mr. Frank. 



* 1 . Clupea melastoma, Bl. Schn. p. 427 ; Pellona melastoma, Cuv. ^ Vol. 

 XX. p. 308. — Coast of Coromandel. 



2. Ditchelee, Russell, ii. p. 72, pi. 188 ; Pellona ditchela, Cuv. # Val. xx. 



p. 314. — Coast of Coromandel. 



3. Pellona micropus, Cuv.^ Val.js. p. 320. — Coast of Coromandel; Sengal. 



4. filigera, Cuv. % Val. xx. p. 322. — Peninsula of India. 



6. raotius. Cuv. ^ Val. xx. p. 323 (not Ham. Buck.). — Ganges. 



