FISHES OF THE DUKHUN. 351 
This fish is nearly cylindrical, but towards and at the tail, the body is compressed. 
Head rather depressed, and acuminate from the eyes to the upper lip (which termi- 
nates in a mucronate point): upper jaw ridged, like the roof of a house. General 
colour dark olive, adorned with black blotches. The skin has a beautiful appearance, like 
that of plaited work ; the gills are placed almost longitudinally, and the opening is one 
inch and a quarter long ; the pectoral fins are nearly circular. and contain more than 25 
rays, it being difficult to count the very minute rays. The dorsal fin commences one 
inch behind a perpendicular raised from the vent, and is lost in the tail, which is rounded. 
From the shoulder to the commencement of the dorsal fin, the back has a line of 39 or 
40 sharp, white, bony spines, without membrane between them, those on the shoulders 
being very short, and gradually lengthening to the last spine, which is ;4,ths of an inch 
long. The vent is a little behind the middle of the fish, and close behind it are two 
white bony spines, of unequal length, the longest of which is half an inch. The 
anal fin commences at the same distance from the tail as the dorsal fin, and cor- 
responds with it, excepting in not being quite so deep. The dorsal and abdominal 
spines are usually lying along the back, but the fish has the power of erecting them ; 
and the severe wounds they are capable of inflicting render it dangerous to handle the 
fish when alive. 
The length of the specimen described is 21 inches ; diameter at the cylindrical part 
of the body one inch and ;{5ths. The mouth and palate are furnished with dental pro- 
cesses, more nearly resembling the roughness of a file than teeth ; the mouth is small. 
This is the fish so commonly known to Europeans as the Eel ; it is highly palatable, 
and in much esteem fried for breakfast. It is rather abundant in all rivers in Dukhun, 
particularly in rocky pools in the beds of rivers. The usual price is four seers per 
rupee,—7 lbs. 14 oz. 2 dr. avoirdupois for 2 shillings. 
The fish above described differs from Macrognathus armatus,of Dr. Hamilton’s ‘ Fishes 
of the Ganges’ in the palate being beset with dental processes, in the dorsal spines con- 
sisting of 40 instead of 37, and in the rays of the pectoral fins exceeding 25. This fish 
moreover differs from the generic characters of Macrognathus of Lacepéde, in the dorsal, 
anal and ventral fins being united, and in other matters; the fish, in fact, rather be- 
longing to the genus Mastacembelus of Gronovius, figured in the ‘ Régne Animal’ (p. 205, 
fig. 2, pl. 30 of Guérin’s ‘ Iconographie du Régne Animal’), but has the characteristic of 
Notacanthus of Bloch in the union of the dorsal, anal and caudal fins ; and it is a ques- 
tion whether it may not constitute a genus intermediate between Mastacembelus and 
Notacanthus, not having the exact characters of either of these two genera, nor yet those 
of Macrognathus. 
Native name, ‘ Waam.’ 
VOL. IIl.—PART V. ox 
