COMMERSON'S AMBASSIS, 125 



plentiful in the seas around the Isle of Bourbon, 

 and found also at the mouths of the Pondichery 

 river on the coast of Malabar, and in Java. In 

 the island of Bourbon it is relished in soups, and 

 sometimes preserved in pickle; and the fishing 

 of them gives employment to many of the inha- 

 bitants. 



It is a handsome and rather beautiful fish when 

 fresh taken from the water, a silvery tint over- 

 spreading the whole body. The upper part of 

 the back is of a brownish green, which gradually 

 falls into a paler shade on the lower parts ; and 

 along the centre of the fish there runs a pale broad 

 shining line, which relieves the uniformity of its 

 colouring. The principal parts to be examined 

 here are the serrating of the under edges of the 

 preopercles and the first dorsal fin ; the first ray 

 is very short, the second the longest ; but before 

 either there is a small lying spine, not seen in the 

 figure, and which can only be discovered by feeling 

 with the finger. This fish is about seven inches 

 in length. There is a peculiarity in the ribs of 

 this species mentioned by Cuvier ; it commences 

 with the third pair, and each of the eight follow- 

 ing have their upper half dilated into a small oval 

 plate, with a longitudinal groove on the outward 

 surface, which runs in a line with the slender 

 part of the bone. 



There are several other species of this genus 



