ELOPS. 



•Jo 



1. ELOPS. 



Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 518 (17GG) ; Giinth. Cut. Fish. vii. p. 469 (1868) ; Bleek. 

 Atlas Ichth. vi. p. 84 (1872) ; Bouleng. Poiss. Bass. Congo, p. 47 (IDOl). 



Body elongate, moderately compressed. Scales small; lateral line 

 straight, with simple tubes. INIouth very large, the pra3maxillary and 

 maxillary ^vith bands of small villiform teeth ; similar teeth on the vomer, 

 palatines, pterygoids, parasphenoid, and tongue. Dorsal fin above the 

 ventrals, a little shorter than the anal, these fins folding in a scaly sheath. 

 Ventral fins with 15 or 16 rays. A scaly process above the base of the 

 pectoral and another above the ventral. Branchiostegal rays 24 to 35. 

 Pseudobranchiai well developed. Vertebrae 62 or more. 



Tropical and subtropical seas, entering rivers. 



The two species are easily distinguished by the following formulae :— 

 D. 22-25 ; A. 14-17 ; Sc. 100-110 {-g| ; Br. 



2g_35 I. E. saurus, L., p. 25. 



D. 18-21; A. 17-18; Sc. 74-83 ^; Br. 



24-26 2. -E. lacerta, C. & V., p. 26. 



1. ELOPS SAUPvUS. 

 Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 518 (1766) ; Bloch, Aiisl. Fische, viil. p. 153, pi. cccxciii. 



fig. 1 (1794) ; Cuv. & Val. Hist. Poiss. xix. ip. 365 (1846) ; Gunth. Cat. 



Fish. vii. p. 470 (1868) ; Stcind. Sit/b. Ak. Wien, Ixi. i. 1870, p. 571 ; 



Kleinz. Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, xxi. 1871, p. 603 ; Bleek. Atl. Ichth. 



vi. p. 84, pi. cclviii. fig. 3 (1872) ; Day, Fish. Ind. p. 649, pi. cxlvi. fig. 1 



(1878) ; Sauv. Hist. Madag., Poiss. p. 497, pi. xlix. B. fig. 4 (1891) ; Jord. 



& Everm. Fish. N. Amer. i. p. 410 (1896). 

 Argentina Carolina, Linn. t. c. p. 519. 

 Argentina macJnwta, Forsk. Descr. Anim. p. GS (1775). 

 Mvgilomonis anna-caroUna, Lacep. Hist. Poiss. v. p. 397 (1803). 

 Elops inermis, Mitchell, Tr. Lit. Phil. Soc. N. Y. i. 1815, p. 445. 

 EIops machnata, Rlipp. N. Wirbelth., Fisch. pp. 80 & 84 (1835) ; Richards. Yoy. 



Ereb. & Terr., Fish. p. 59, pi. xxxvi. figs. 3-5 (1846) ; Schleg. Fann. Japon., 



Poiss. p. 241, pi. cix. fig. 2 (1850) ; Playf. & Giinth. Fish. Zanzib. p. 121, 



fig. (1866). 

 Flops indims, Swains. Nat. Hist. ii. p. 292 (1839). 

 Flops capensis, A. Smith, HI. Zool. S. Afr., Fish. pi. vii. (1840) ; Casteln. Mem. 



Poiss. Afr. Austr. p. 67 (1861). 

 Flops purpurascens, Richards. Ichth. China, p. 311 (1846). 



Depth of body 4i to 5^ times in total length, length of head 3^^ 4 

 times. Eye 4 to 5 times in length of head, as long as or a little shorter 

 than snout, equal to interorbital width ; lower jaw not or but scarcely 



