[5] REVIEW OF THE SCLENIDJE. 34? 



a. Dorsal spines well separated, the first dorsal spine * attached to the third or fourth 



interneural, not more than two* of 

 the spine-hearing interneurals being 

 placed between the same pair of ver- 

 tebrae ; soft rays of dorsal fin 17 to 32 

 (37 to 40 in Lonchurus, 45 to 50 in Sci- 

 wnoides) ; occipital crest not greatly 

 b. Lower pharyngeals separate. e evate(1 - 



c. Lower jaw without barbels. 

 d. Caudal fin moderately scaly, its distal portion usually more or less naked, 



the scales not numerous enough to 

 give a thickened appearance to the fin. 

 e. Teeth well developed, permanent in both jaws. 

 /. Lower pharyngeals rather narrow ; their teeth conic and mostly sharp ; 



none of them molar; outer teeth of 

 upper jaw more or less enlarged. 

 g. Gill-rakers comparatively long and slender ; mouth more or less ob- 

 lique, anal fin usually (but not always) 

 inserted posteriorly; preorbital usually 

 narrow, flat ; edge of snout above up- 

 per jaw with the pores and slits little 

 conspicuous or obsolete. 

 h. Preopercle without bony teeth or serrations, its membranaceous mar- 

 gin entire, crenulate or ciliate (two or 

 three slender spinules present in Col- 

 lichthys); teeth of lower jaw in few 

 series. 

 i. Skull excessively cavernous, soft and spongy to the touch, the inter- 

 orbital space very broad; eye very 

 small; mouth large, oblique; preoper- 

 cle with a broad membranaceus border, 

 which is striated and fringed ; scales 

 small ; spinous dorsal short and weak ; 

 anal spines weak ; caudal fin pointed. 

 j. Pseudobranchiffi wanting ; air-bladder with a lateral horn-like 

 process on each side, this dividing into 

 many branches in the skin of a perito- 

 neal membrane ; both jaws with small, 

 unequal, canine-like teeth, those of the 

 upper jawin the outer, of the lower jaw 

 in the inner series ; forehead very con- 

 vex ; soft dorsal very long, of 27 to 50 

 rays; anal fin small; pectoral fin long ; 

 gill-rakers (X -f- 14) slender but rather 

 short; lower jaw included; "verte- 

 brae 14 + 10" (Bleeker) ; " vertebra 12 

 -f- 12 " ( Cuv. 4" Val. ). (Asiatic species. ) 



SCIiENOIDES.f 



* These characters (which separate the rest of the Scicenince from Eques) have been 

 verified in part of the genera ouly, and the statement of them may need some modi- 

 fication when the entire group is considered. The genus Lonchurus especially should 

 be examined in this regard. 



t Scicenoides Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Sci. Beng., 29, 1861; type Otolithus oiauritw Can- 

 tor. The characters here given are drawn from Scicenoides pama. This genus seems 

 nearest to Neoris, but it shows several resemblances to Lonchurus. If it really has 

 vertebrae 14 -f 10, as stated by Bleeker, it should be placed among the Otolithince. 



