•200 RECOUPS OF IHE Al'STUALlAN Ml'SErM. 



Body elongate and compresBed, wholly or partly covered with niinate 

 rudimentary scales which become obsolete on tlie head. Head large, 

 wider than deep, opercular region swollen. Snout rounded, the upper 

 jaw longest ; mouth wide, slightly oblique, the upper lip thick ami the 

 lower thin ; the jaw laterally fringed. Premaxillary teeth nniserial an- 

 tei-ioi'ly, large and subulate, becoming abruptly smaller posteriorly ; 

 mandibular teeth similar but smaller, the posterior ones in a row which 

 curves inwaixl ; a lai'ge canine on each side of the mandibular symphysis. 

 Tongue adnate, with a rounded tip. Anterior nostril in an elongate tube 

 situated at the outer angle of the snout. Eyes superior, pi-otractile, 

 contiguous. Gill-opening narrow and subvertical, the isthmus wide ; Hve 

 bi-anchiostegals. First dorsal with Hve flexible spines, one or moi-e of 

 which ma}' be produced into Hlaments; second dorsal low with a rudi- 

 mentary spine and 26-29 rays. Anal similar to the second doi-sal with 

 i/'24-26 i-ays. Pectoi-al shoit and rounded with 18-21 rays and a strong 

 muscular base. Ventrals wholly united, with i/5 rays. Caudal cuneatc, 

 with 18-15 rays of which the lower are short and muscular. Intestinal 

 canal long, with many convolutions. Vertebra^ 25 (ll-f-14). 



Atji III ties. — Sciirtehiox is very closelj' allied to Boleophtlinliiiiis, but 

 differs in having the mandibular teeth subulate and ari-anged in a row 

 which curves inward posteriorly; the body is moi'o oloTigate, and covered 

 with only minute rudimentary scales. 



In addition to the genotype, this genus includes Jioleophflialniiiii teiiuin. 

 Day*, and //. iihiucux, Day^. 



Iliihifnt. — Small tishes from the litoral /one of the Indian, Malay- 

 sian iind Noffli .Vnsfi-alian Seas, frequenting the mud-flats of tidal i-ivers. 



8CAI{TKI-A0.>^ VIi;il>IS, J{ll(/iil)l<ni. 



(Plate xx.xii., tig. 1.) 



(I'uhiiis n'ritlis, Buchauiin, Fish. Ganges, lS22, jtp. 42, lo, DGG, pi. x.xxii., 

 fig. 12. 



lioleopldhiilninn hlsti<q)hont!<, Cnvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xii., 

 1837, p. 210. 



Boleophtlnilniiis rirlills, Cuvier & Valenciennes, Ihid., p. 218. hi., Cantor, 

 Cat. Malay. Fish., lS50, p. 195. hi, Hleeker, Verli. Hat. Gen., xxv., 

 1858, Beng. en Hind., p. 50. LI, Giinther, Brit. Mus. Cat. Fish., 

 iii., ISdl, p. 1()4. Ill, Day, Fish. India, 187(5, p. 807, pi. Ixvi., tig. 5. 

 Id., Waite, Rec. Austr. Mus., iv., 1902, p. 194. 



lioleophthnlmiix siiiirii.<, Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xii., 

 1837, p. 215. 



Jiolerritlitlnilnins fhineiixix, Cuvier & \'alenciennes, Iln'tK 



JSiileiipIillinIni iiK niiriipdtori nx, Richardson, Voy. " Sulpliur," lS42, p. 14i>, 

 pi. xlii., figs. 1-2, and Kept. Ichth. China, 1846, p. 208. 



* Day— Fiah. India. 1876, p. 305, pi. Ixv., fig. 1. 

 « Dixy— Ibid., p. 30G, pi. Ixv., fig. 3. 



