310 REPORT—1845. thew Yo 
we have little doubt but the synonyms we have cited above are correct, as the figures show 
the characteristic black mark with white veins on the shoulder, and the indistinct stripe along 
the middle of the anal. Mr. Reeves’s drawing however, which agrees with his specimens, 
shows a slight gibbosity on the hind head, which is not represented in the figures of Bloch 
and Russell. 
The head is acutely ridged from the nape to the end of the snout, the sides sloping down 
to the lateral ridges. The intermaxillaries are small and lie in the same line with the long, 
slender acute maxillaries, which are composed of three pieces. These and the lower jaw are 
set with fine teeth. There is no tongue, and the gills coming forward to the tip of the lower 
jaw are connected by a narrow ridge-like isthmus, which is rough with minutely villiform 
teeth. The head is contained nearly six times in the total length; the height of the body 
somewhat exceeds a fifth of the length, and the thickness is contained twice and a half times 
in the height. The belly is serrated by thirteen teeth before the ventrals and nine behind 
them. ‘There are eleven rows of scales in the height of the body, and thirty-eight in a row 
between the gill-opening and base of the caudal. 
The dorsal surface is coloured by dark grass-green, which is mixed with brown on the top 
of the head; the lower parts are brightly silvery. ‘The black humeral patch is finely veined 
with white. The dorsal and ventrals are pistachio-green, the former being blackish on the 
edges and tinged with yellow in front. The anal is yellow in front, the rest of the fin being 
green, darkening along the middle so as to form a stripe. The caudal is greenish at the base ; 
bright saffron-yellow on the disc, and blackish-green on the edges. The pectoral is also saf- 
fron-yellow, and is sparingly mottled with blackish-green. 
Hab. Seas of China and India. 
Mercators sETIPINNis, J. R. Forster, in jiguré Georgio Forster pict. 242. 
Bib. Banks; Richardson, Ann. Nat. Hist. x. p. 493. Clupea thrissoides, 
Schn. 424. cum Cl. cyprinoide, Bl. 403. confusé; Clupea eyprinoides, 
Broussonnet, Ichth. (non Blochii); Kundinga, Russell, 203? Icon. 
Reeves, 96; Hardw. Malac. 234. Chinese name, Hang tsaou pih, “ Ditch 
dead white” (Birch); Hang tso pak (Reeves, Bridgem. Chrest. 88). 
Rad. Br. 21-22; D. 18 vel 19; A. 25; C. 204; P.15; V.10. (Spec. 
Br. Mus.) 
We have not seen an Indian or Chinese example of this. species, but specimens exist in the 
British Museum from Port Essington, and have been described at length in the ‘Annals and 
Magazine of Natural History’ as above quoted. One anomaly occurs in Mr. Reeves’s draw- 
ing, the existence of a pointed canine tooth in the upper jaw, whereas in the specimens the 
edges of the jaws are rough with very narrow bands of minute teeth. The colours in the 
Chinese painting are also different from those described by Forster, but Broussonnet’s figure, 
as well as George Forster’s, correspond exactly in profile and size of fins, shape of head, &c., 
with Mr. Reeves’s drawing. Russell’s seems distorted, probably from the flaccidity of the 
specimen. 
P The discs of the scales are like frosted silver, and they have a well-defined border of a 
polished silvery appearance. The scales of the lateral line are forty in number, and they are 
marked by six or seven radiating, forked furrows. In Mr. Reeves’s drawing the bases of the 
scales on the baek are shaded with bluish-lilac, which gradually changes on the sides and belly 
to celandine-green. ‘The sides of the head are oil- and siskin-green, the occiput being tinged 
with hyacinth-red. The pectorals are yellow, which is mixed with brown on the upper 
border ; the last ray of the dorsal is sulphur-yellow; the rest of the fins are hair-brown, the 
fronts of the dorsal and anal being wood-brown. Iris grass-green. ; 
Hab. Seas of China, India, Australia and Polynesia. Brackish lagoons, Port Essington. 
MecGALors curTIFILIS, Richardson. Jcon. Reeves, 136; Hardw. Malac. 
Chinese name, Ke yu (Birch); Ko yu (Reeves); Ki u (Bridgem. Chrest. 
86). Length of figure 8 inches. 
This drawing represents a rather more slender fish than M. setipinnis, with a smaller eye, 
narrower maxillary, fewer scales both longitudinally and vertically, the dorsal commencing 
farther back over the axilla of the ventrals, and having with the anal fewer rays. The last 
ray of the dorsal is shorter, and the last anal one more decidedly lengthened than the corre- 
sponding rays of C. setipinnis. The bright silvery edges of the scales are not so sharply defined 
and distinguished from the discs, which in this fish are leek-green above the lateral line, and 
gradually change to pearl-gray towards the belly. The upper parts of the head are dark olive- 
green. The dorsal and caudal approach to blackish-green, the latter being very dark ; the 
