228 Leptiles and Fishes from the, Upper Yangtsze-Kiang. 
head five times and a third. Head very small, strongly com- 
pressed, with the cleft of the mouth obliquely ascending 
upwards and with the jaws equal in front when the mouth is 
shut. The eye is large, placed in the middle of the depth of 
the head, one fourth of the length of the head and rather 
shorter than the snout. Suborbitals narrow. The maxillary 
does not extend to the vertical from the front margin of the 
eye. Pectoral fin of moderate length, as long as the head, 
terminating at a great distance from the ventral fin. The 
root of the ventral is nearly midway between the extremity 
of the snout and the root of the caudal fin. The small dorsal 
fin is inserted nearer to the origin of the anal than to the root 
of the ventral. The lateral line is abruptly bent downwards 
in about the twelfth or thirteenth scale, and reascends oppo- 
site to the end of the anal fin; the muciferous tubes of each 
of the thirteen anterior scales emit a vertical branch at a right 
angle. Coloration uniform bright silvery. 
Several specimens, 94 inches long, were obtained by Mr. 
Styan at Kiu-Kiang. 
Cobitis xanté, Gthr. 
This species has a suborbital spine and ought to be removed 
from the genus Nemachilus, to which I erroneously referred it. 
Botia variegata. 
DEAT AGS. os Ves: 
Barbels six. The height of the body is one fifth of the 
total length (without caudal), the length of the head two 
sevenths ; snout elongate, but the small eye is much nearer 
to the end of the snout than to that of the operculum. The 
suborbital spine extends to below the hind margin of the 
orbit. Interorbital space narrow, transversely convex, twice 
as wide as the orbit. Origin of the dorsal fin midway be- 
tween the root of the caudal and the orbit. Caudal fin 
deeply forked. Body covered with minute but regularly 
arranged scales. Ground-colour yellowish, the body orna- 
mented with five black bands, which are irregular in shape 
and may be broken up into large blotches; all are continuous 
across the back and the middle one corresponds in position to 
the dorsal fin. All the fins variegated with black, the black 
markings of the dorsal and anal fins sometimes confluent into 
broad band-like spots. 
Two specimens of this fine gigantic species of loach were 
sent by Mr. Pratt from Ichang. The larger measures 13 
inches in length. 
