1865.] MR. F. DAY ON THE FISHES OF COCHIN. 295 
NEMACHEILUS TRIANGULARIS, Day, sp. nov. 
Bate D. 90's. Vea ee 6. ©€.19. Cirri 6, 
Length of specimen 2-1, inches. 
Length of head about 5» of base of dorsal =1,, of base of anal ap 
of pectoral 1, of caudal 3 of the total length. Height of head To 
of body 1, of dorsal fin +, of anal +1; of the total length. Diameter 
of eye + of length of head, eyes 1 diameter apart, 2 diameters from 
end of snout ; no suborbital spine. 
Body elongated, fusiform, cylindrical in front, compressed along 
the sides. From snout to frontal convex, thence to caudal straight ; 
interorbital space convex. 
Lower jaw shortest ; opening of mouth below, and extending as 
far posteriorly as half the distance to the orbit ; the end of the snout 
fleshy and overhanging the mouth; intermaxillaries produced down- 
wards and forming a knob, which is in advance of the lower jaw 
when the mouth is closed. Lips rather fleshy. Cirri four, on snout, 
with base not united; two on superior maxillaries, half the length 
of the head. Eyes not covered by any adipose membrane. Nostrils 
nearer to the eye than the snout; anterior tubular ; posterior broad, 
open. Operculum rounded posteriorly. 
Fins. Dorsal arises slightly in front of the origin of the ventral, 
and most of it is situated in the anterior half of the body. Anal is 
entirely in the posterior third of the body. Dorsal square ; anal 
slightly rounded ; caudal deeply lobed. 
Scales very distinct over the whole body ; none on the head. The 
lateral line passes straight from the head towards the centre of the 
caudal fin, but ceases abruptly opposite the termination of the anal. 
Colours. Yellowish-banded, each band being edged with black ; 
seven along the body, which pass backwards towards the lateral line, 
aud consequently are disposed in a V shape; one band passes over 
the operculum, a second through the eye, and a third from the orbit 
to the angle of the mouth. Dorsal with three irregular rows of black 
Spots. Pectoral, ventral, and anal unspotted, but darkest at their 
margins. Three oblique black bands on the caudal, which has also 
a black base. 
I am indebted to the Rev. Henry Baker, jun., for this pretty 
little Loach, which he discovered on the hills at Mundikyum. 
The next Loach which I have to describe I obtained at Trichoor, 
near Cochin, from a paddy-field, amongst some specimens of Poly- 
acanthus and Saccobranchus singio. It is the most remarkable 
species I have observed, and cannot be included in any genus as 
at present constituted ; I therefore propose to define one for its re- 
ception, premising that such should be placed immediately subse- 
quent to Bleeker’s genus Lepidocephalichthys, as it possesses a veiled 
eye, a dorsal fin with few rays placed opposite a ventral, and no 
swimming-bladder. One of its most appreciable features is that the 
innermost ray of its pectoral fin is expanded into a strong flattened 
spine, 
