;j24 pniSTiroMATiDj*:. 



diilis truncated; the second und third anal spines nearly equuUy 

 strong, the latter rather longer. Body and vertical fins with nu- 

 merous hrown spots, disappearing with age ; the dorsal and aiud fins 

 with a hlack margin. Sometimes light longitudinal streaks at the 

 side of the head. 



Red Sea ; Trincomalee ; Seas of Java and Vanicolo ; Sea of China. 



a. Adult : stuflfed. Red Sea. From the Senckcnberg Museum. 



6. Adult: skin. Ceylon. Presented by E. F. Kelaart, M.D. 



c. Adidt. China. 



d. Adult. China. 



e. f. Half-grown. From the Haslar Collection. 



g. Half-grown: stuffed. From theCollection of the Zoological Society. 

 h. Adult: skeleton. From the Haslar Collection. 



The air-hlathler has been described* as simple, but a closer ex- 

 amination has shown me that there arc several slender horns in 

 front and on the sides of the anterior quarter. Their number differs 

 in diffei'cnt individuals from five to eight. They are rather short, 

 and, reaching hdtvecn the musclea of the abdominal cavity, have here 

 the very peculiar ])urpose of fixing the air-bladder ; they decrease 

 in length posteriorly, and are hollow. 



Skeleton. — The maxillanj bone scarcely widens at its posterior 

 extremity, but it has the inferior angle produced ; the interma-cciUary 

 is a little shorter, and has a flat prominence posteriorly, and a deej) 

 notch between tliis prominence and the process ; its postei'ior process 

 is broader and stronger than the Ixme itself, and of aboui the same 

 length, but does not extend to the level of the orbit. The vomer 

 has antei-iorly an angular transverse ridge, as in species with a 

 toothed vomer ; its posterior portion is longitudinally grooved. The 

 mandihula is elevated, but short, its length slightly exceeding the 

 width of the orbit ; the muciferous channel, which is contained in the 

 lower part of the bone, is nearly entirely closed by the bone, there 

 being two or three small openings only, as is the case with neaily 

 all the rest of the system of muciferous channels. The turhinal 

 bones are very elongate, tubuliform, with a long slit posteriorly and 

 a small opening in front ; there is a wide interspace between these 

 bones to receive the posterior processes of the intermaxillaries. The 

 free margin of the 2>olafine bone has nearly a vertical direction ; the 

 ptei-ygoid reaches to the mandibulary joint, and terminates in a small 

 prominent knob. The pre-, meso -, and epitympanic form together an 

 oblong plate, with a central impression and a wide opening between 

 the pre- and epityriipanic. 



The occijrital crest is very elevated, its horizontal portion being 

 nearly three times as wide as the vertical, and extending to the level 

 of the anterior margin of the orbit. There are, besides, two similar 

 crests on each side from the orbit to the scapulaiy ; they are very 

 developed, the outer being lower and muciferous, and the inner con- 

 tinued into the upper orbital edge, which is likewise elevated. There 

 arc two pairs of openings of moderate width at the anterior extre- 

 » Riipp. Atl. p. 120. 



