262 THE PLAGIOSTOMIA. 



Saw nearly one third of the total length, narrow and slender, tapering 

 gradually; rostral teeth in 25-34 pairs, absent near the base. On young individ- 

 uals of about two feet in total length the rostral teeth are rather wide at the base 

 and taper from a barb on the posterior margin to an acute point. On those 

 having rostra of two feet or more in length these teeth are still trenchant on both 

 edges but the barb has disappeared. Spiracles and nostrils are very oblique. 

 Oral teeth of an embryo at the time of acquiring scales in m rows. Compara- 

 tively the fins are narrower and the angles sharper and more produced in this 

 species than in any other of the genus. The pectorals are small, the outer angle 

 is nearly a right one, somewhat blunted, and the hind margin is deeply exca- 

 vated and the angle is produced. The dorsals have short bases and the inner 

 angles are much produced; the posterior margin is deeply concave. According 

 to Day the species reaches a length of twenty feet or more. Ascends rivers. 



India to the Red Sea; East Indies. 



Pristis zysron. 



Pristis zysron Sleeker, 1852, Verb. Bat. gen., 24, p. 55; Dum^ril, 1865, Elasm., p. 478; Gunth., 1870, 

 Cat. fishes Brit, mus., 8, p. 438; Day, 1878, Ind. fishes, p. 729, pi. 91, f. 2; Annandale, 1909, 

 Mem. Ind. mus., 2, p. 8. 



Pristis dubius Bleeker, 1852, Verh. Bat. gen., 24, p. 56; Nat. tijds. Ned. Ind., 3, p. 459. 



Rostrum long, toothed near the base, teeth 25-32, hindmost farther apart. 

 Nostrils and spiracles moderately oblique. Outer angle of pectoral broadly 

 rounded, hind margin convex, hinder angle not produced. First dorsal not 

 larger than the second, originating rather behind the middle of the bases of the 

 ventrals. Subcaudal broadly rounded on lower angle, without a trace of a lower 

 lobe. Attains a length of twenty feet. 



Distinguished from P. clavata by the larger number of rostral teeth, greater 

 roundness of the outer margin of the pectoral, posterior origin of first dorsal, 

 larger comparative size of second dorsal, and more rounded caudal fins. 



India and East Indies : Ceylon, Borneo, Amboina. 



Pristis pectinatus. 



Le vivelle Dtjhamel, 1782, Traite, 4, p. 336, pi. 25, f. 3-5. 



Der saegefische Bloch, 1785, Ausl. fische, 1, p. 41, pi. 120. 



Pez de espada Parra, 1787, Hist, nat., p. 75, pi. 33. 



Sqiuilus prislis Bonnaterre, 1788, Ichth., p. 11. 



Pristis pectinatus Latham, 1794, Trans. Linn. soc. London, 2, p. 278, pi. 26, f. 2; Schneider, 1801, 

 Bloch, Ichthy., p. 351; Risso, 1810, Ichth. Nice, p. 22; 1826, Hist. nat. 3, Poissons, p. 141; 

 Blainv., 1830, Poiss. Fr., p. 51; Owen, 1840, Odont., pi. 8, f. 1; MUller & Henle, 1841, 

 Plagios., p. 109; Blyth, 1860, Journ. Asiat. soc. Bengal, 29, p. 36; Dum^ril, 1865, Elasm., p. 



