Reproductive Or<ians of Span's Centrodontus. 13 



40-5 cm. in length. It was a silvery fish, with a slight bluish tinge 

 on the dorsum. The cheeks were silvery. The top of the head was 

 of a purplish colour. The inside of the mouth and the inside surface 

 of the gill-cover were white. 



The lateral line is prominent (Fig. 30). The scales, which are 

 ctenoid, are large, and are arranged in parallel rows. A series of 

 longitudinal I'ows is prominent. A golden sheen is observed in the 

 rows sometimes. The large semi-circular scale situated immediately 

 over the opercular cleft is noteworthy. 



The mouth is small, with prominent lips ; it resembles the mouth of 

 Labrus. The teeth are comparatively large. Thej^ cover a broad 

 area in the jaws (Fig. 36). There are at least six rows of teeth in the 

 front of the lower jaw. The outside row of teeth are the largest. 

 They are sharp-pointed. The teeth gradually decrease in size towards 

 the inside of the jaw. No round-topped molar tooth was made out. 

 There is in both jaws a pouch formed by a horizontal membrane 

 joined to the premaxillge and dentaries respectively. 



A strip of red muscle is present along the middle of the side. 



The peritoneum is white. 



The urinary bladder is large. Its attachment in the hind end of 

 the abdominal cavity is median, but it extends forward on the right 

 side of the body in the form of a broad lobe. It reaches to the 

 rectum. It is very vascular. 



No urogenital papilla was observed. The apertures of the urethra 

 and vas deferens were sunk in three cases examined. 



All the fins are dusky in colour. The fins are composed of spines 

 and soft vajs. 



The dorsal fin is dark, but the web between the rays was blotched 

 with pink. There were 11 spines and 13 soft rays in this fin in three 

 cases, 10 spines and 14 soft rays in one case, and 11 spines and 12 

 soft raj-s in another case. The first of the soft raj^s had a very fine 

 stiff but flexible point. The last two fin-rays arise close together. 

 This fin stands in a groove. The first half of the fin can be laid 

 down and almost hidden in the groove. The hind part of the groove 

 has thin, soft edges formed of scales, and these run up on to the last 

 rays, in a free process (Fig. 113). A similar arrangement is present 

 in connection with the anal fin, but here there are two processes on 

 each side, one a little anterior to the other. The anal fin had 3 spines 

 and 11 soft rays in five cases. The first two spines arise from the 

 first interspinous bone. The last two rays arise close together from a 

 single interspinous bone. This fin had its base, both fin-rays and 

 web, whitish ; its distal half is blackish. In one fish the fin was 

 bluish. The anal fin, all but its last three rays, stands in a groove. 

 When the dorsal and anal fins are distended the spinous and soft- 

 rayed portions of the fins are not marked off from one another. The 

 fin has the appearance of a single fin, not of two fins joined 

 together. 



The pectoral fin is almost colourless. It had 16 rays, and reached 

 to the level of the anus in one fish. 



The ventral fin is dusky ; the rays were bluish in one. It had six 

 rays. The first ray is a spine. Alongside the base of this fin an 

 elongated but thin scale is present. At the ventral surface between 

 the ventral fins the scales project in a triangular process. In a fish 

 42 cm. long the dorsal ramus of the tail was the longer. 



