258 MR. F. DAY ON THE FISHES OF INDIA. [May 1, 



the intestines of tlie Emu are seen to be covered by a horizontal 

 septum, which resembles that of the Crocodiles except that it does 

 not arise from the dorsal median line but along two lines placed 

 nearer to the lateral parietes ; the relations of the posterior region 

 of the oblique septum to the omentum are represented diagramma- 

 tically in the accompanying drawing (fig. 2, p. 2.57). These facts, 

 then, support my contention that the omentum as well as the oblique 

 septa of birds are to be derived from the fibrous expansion which 

 covers over the viscera in the Orocodilia. 



They also suggest that the oblique septum of birds has been 

 produced by a vertical fold of this fibrous expansion which became 

 attaciied to the ventral parietes and ultimately lost all traces in most 

 birds (?) of its primitively double nature, and not by a separation 

 of part of it. 



4. Observations on the Fishes of India. — Part I. 

 By Francis Day, C.I.E., F.Z.S. 



[Eecei-ped April 13, 1888.] 



During the ten years that have elapsed since the completion of 

 my work upon the ' Fishes of India,' several new piscine forms have 

 been obtained, both from the seas and fresh waters of that part of 

 Asia. Extended observations among specimens preserved in the 

 Museums of Europe have likewise convinced me that some species 

 •which I formerly considered to be undescribed have no title to that 

 designation, while several of my new ones have been redescribed as 

 novelties by others. The foregoing reasons would scarcely have in- 

 duced me to recur again to this interesting fish-fauna had it not 

 been that it is proposed to re-issue my work in a more portable size, 

 better suited to the requirements of travellers and collectors. As 

 the subject of the geographical distribution of these fishes will have 

 to be considered, 1 am obliged to j)oint out not only such forms as 

 I have erroneously described to be new, but likewise to advert to 

 those of other describers which I believe would come under this head. 



Cromileptes altivelis. 



Sen-anus altivelis, Cuv. & Val. 



? Serranus striolatus, Playfair, Fish. Zanzibar, p. 1 1 , pi. iii. f. 2. 



1 Serra7ms gilbosus, Boulenger, P. Z. S. 1887, p. 6.54. 



The figure o( Serranus altivelis in Cuv. & Val. ii. pi. xxxv. shows 

 the spines of the dorsal fin increasing in length to the last, which 

 is delineated nearly twice as long as the second. Cantor, in his 

 ' Malayan Fishes,' remarked that these spines from the third were 

 of nearly equal length ; Bleeker shows them slightly, but gradually 

 auKmenting to the last, which is figured as one fifth longer than the 

 thi'rd : 1 have observed them more nearly corresponding with Cantor's 

 description. The foregoing shows that differences do exist as to the 

 length of these spines, and that a gradual augmentation from, the 



