ON THE ICHTHYOLOGY OF THE SEAS OF CHINA AND JAPAN. 285 
4@ibular pair, and more than twice as long as the interior pair. There is a large triangular 
plate of the humeral chain above the pectoral which is covered with smooth skin. The dorsal 
and pectoral spines are long and rather slender, the former being equal to two-thirds of the 
height of the fish.and serrated both before and behind. The latter is also serrated on both 
sides, but only at the tip. The adipose fin rises abruptly from the back, and is small; the 
anal is of moderate size; behind these fins the tail becomes narrower than usual in a siluroid, 
but again expands where it is embraced by the base of the caudal. The caudal is deeply 
forked with acute lobes. The lateral line is arched at the shoulder, and descends to the 
middle height of the body over the ventrals, its course to the caudal fin being straight from 
thence. The general colour is violet-purple passing into Scotch-blue, and gradually changing 
‘to a bright silvery tint on the lower part of the sides and under surface of the head. A series 
of chevrons are shown between the ventrals and pectorals evidently corresponding to the ribs. 
The under fins are bluish, the dorsal and caudal purplish brown. Length of the drawing, 
153 inches. The Chinese name probably refers to the colour of the body. 
Hab. Canton. 
PIMELoDus GuTTaTus, Lacépéde, v. pp. 96 et 113. pl. 5. f. 1; C. et V. xv. 
p- 143. Icon. Reeves, 129 et 130; Hardw. Malac. 161. Chinese name, 
Hwa han, “Flowery or spotted chiton” (Birch); Za kan, “ Variegated 
kan” (Reeves); Fa kom (Bridgem. Chrest. 196). ad. D.1|6; A. 1|8; 
C. 15; P. 1|8; V. 8. (Fig. Reev.) Length of fig. 129, 133 inches; of 130, 
164 inches. 
This species was known to Lacépéde only by a Chinese drawing; and though Mr. Reeves’s 
drawings present both a top and side view whereby we can perceive that the fish has no casque, 
yet from our ignorance of the dentition we cannot, say positively that it belongs to the genus 
Pimelodus as constituted in the ‘ Histoire des Poissons.’ It has considerable resemblance to 
Bagrus cavasius, possessing the eight barbels, long adipose and short anal which characterise 
the group to which that species belongs, and which is equivalent to the genus Porcus of M. 
Geoffroy St. Hilaire. On the other hand} it has also.the external characters of the Pimelodes, 
with a round head destitute of a casque and with eight barbels. In profile the head appears 
conical and rather slender, with an acute snout which projects beyond the lower jaw, the face 
and nape rising in a straight gentle acclivity to the dorsal. Viewed from above, the snout is 
broadly rounded; there is no appearance of a casque, and the distance between the eyes is 
equal to a third of the length of the head. The head forms one-fourth of the length of the 
fish, caudal excluded ; and the height of the body at the commencement of the dorsal is nearly 
equal to a sixth of the length, caudal included. The maxillary barbels reach to the tip of 
the pectoral. The outer pair of submandibular barbels are less than half that length, and the 
other two and the nasal pair are still shorter. The pectoral spine is stout and very strongly 
toothed behind, but no teeth are shown on the dorsal one in either figure. The dorsal termi- 
nates over the first ventral ray, and the adipose fin commencing over the axilla of the ventrals 
extends far past the anal and almost to the caudal, being nearly equal in length to a third of 
the fish. The caudal is deeply notched with thick, rounded equal lobes. The lateral line 
has a very slight decurvature as far as the ventrals, but is otherwise nearly straight and rather 
nearer to the belly than to the back. The supra-axillary plate of the humeral chain is drawn 
narrow and rather long. The colour of the back, top of the head and breast is brownish purple- 
ted; the sides and belly white, with a faint wax-yellow or siskin-green reflexion. Many 
transverse bars are shown, that meet en chevron near the back, and again less sharply at the 
lateral line, which is green. The body, adipose fin, and caudal and the rays of the dorsal and 
ventrals are marked with many scattered black spots of irregular shapes and sizes. The dor- 
sal, adipose and caudal are yellowish-brown at the base, the rays of the pectoral are greenish, 
and those of the ventrals and anal carmine. The membranes of most of the fins appear to be 
thin and transparent. 
Icon. Reeves, 132; Hardw. Malac. 162. Chinese name, Han yu, “Chiton 
fish” (Birch); Kan yu, “ Han tiled-fish” (Reeves); Kom u (Bridgem. 
Chrest. 192). Figure 13 inches long. 
This is seemingly another representation of the same species, with the outline a little dis- 
‘torted from the example placed before the artist having been in a more limber state. Hence 
the profile, instead of rising from the snout in a straight acclivity, is undulated by the compa- 
‘rative depression of the head and swelling out of the nape. Some serratures are shown at 
‘the tip of the dorsal spine, and the silvery supra-axillary plate of the humeral chain is notched, 
sas in the figure of B. cavasius (Jacquemont, Voy. de l’Inde, pl. 16. f. 2): there are no other 
perceptible differences of structure. The spots on the base of the caudal are more numerous, 
_ but» they are fewer and more scattered on the body than in the other figures, and’ there are 
4 
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