368 TELEOSTEI. PHYSOSTOMI. 



Family V. CHIROCENTRID^. 



Pseudobranchije absent. Body much elongated and compressed. 

 Margin of upper jaw formed by the premaxillaries mesially, and 

 the maxillaries laterally. Opercular apparatus complete. Barbels 

 absent. A single rayed dorsal fin belonging to the caudal portion 

 of the vertebral column. Stomach with a blind sac : intestinal 

 canal short and furnished internally with spiral folds. No pyloric 

 appendages. Air-bladder present. 



Only one genus is known of the Ghirocentridce, which extends 

 through the Ked Sea and the seas of India to the Malay Archi- 

 pelago. 



1. Genus CHIROCENTRUS, Cuvier. 



Branchiostegals eight. Abdomen with a sharp but not serrated 

 margin. Gill-membranes united for a short distance ; gill-opening 

 wide. Eyes subcutaneous. Cleft of mouth oblique and deep : the 

 lower jaw the longer. A row of canines in the mandible, and a 

 horizontal pair in the premaxillaries ; minute teeth on the palatines, 

 pterygoids, and tongue. A single short dorsal tin placed far back- 

 wards opposite to a long anal ; an elongated osseous appendage in 

 the axilla ; ventrals very small. Scales thin, small, and deciduous. 

 Air-bladder cellular. 



459. (1.) Chirocentrus dorab. (Fig. 114.) 



Clupea dorab, Forsk. Descr. Anim. p. 72, no. 108. 



Chirocentrus dorab, Day, Fish. India, p. 652, pi. clxvi, fig. 3 (see 



syiion.). 



Mooloo-alley and Kiru-ivahlak, Tarn. ; Wahlah, Tel. ; Kunda, Ooriah ; 

 Pussunt, Baluchistan. 



B. viii. D. 16-17. P. 14-15. V. 6-7. A. 31-36. C. 19. 



Length of head 6| to 7^, height of body 6| to 9 in the total 

 length. Eyes diameter 4^ in length of head. Along the whole 



Fig. 114. Chirocentrus dorab. 



extent of the lower margin of the abdomen are short hair-like rays. 

 Colour bluish green along the back; silvery on the sides and 

 abdomen. 



Hub. Eed Sea, through the seas of India to the Malay Archi- 

 pelago and beyond : attaining at least 12 feet in length. When 

 captured this fish bites at everything near it. 



