FAMILY, I— PERCID^. 



97 



compai'ative size with the head as age advances, as occurs in Megah^s cyprinoides, &c. The first few dorsal 

 spines may be compressed or rounded: and the second and third sligh% or very ebngate, but this elo^Sn 

 often wies considerably, as seen m G. filamentosus, in which it may be oiy two-thirds the height of the body 

 or eyen extending so far a^ the base of the caudal fin, and though this difference is generally, tt is not always 

 due to age, but m the yoimg it is mostly shorter than in the adult. Even in the anal spines the second maTbe 

 equal m length to the third or a little longer or shorter in the same species. As regards colour the youn™ 

 generaUy vertically banded and these bands may be indistinct or even entirely absint in the adult. In those 

 with longitudinal bands they sometimes become interrupted in large specimens, showing rows of long oval 

 blotches or marks placed one oyer the other, the reason usually being that these marks are apparent in the 

 adult where the vertical bands existed m the immature. 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 



1. Gerressetifer,!) i%, A. f , L 1 38, L. tr. 5/10. Preopercle serrated along its lower limb. Highest 

 dorsal spme 2/5 of that of body. Silvery, a narrow dark edge to spinous dorsal, and a brown spot on the 

 middle oi each ray. Hooghly. ^ 



2 Gerres oUongus, D ^%, A. f, LI 48-60. Highest dorsal spine 3/4 of that of the body. SHvery. 

 beas or India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



3. Gerres filamentosus, B.p A^ f , L. 1. 45-48. Highest dorsal spine elongated sometimes reacHng the 

 caudal fin. Silvery, with rows of short, oblong, horizontal, bluish spots along the upper half of the body : a spot 

 at the hase or centre of each dorsal spme and ray. Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond 



A Gerres mjmia, D ^, A. f, L 1. 38-40, L tr. 5/10. Highest dorsal spine as long as head excluding the 

 snout. Red Sea, through those of India, to the Malay Archipelago and beyond 



5. Gerres Ifoidus B ^, A f L. 1. 41, L. tr. 5/10. Highest dorsal spine two-fifths as Hgh as the body. 

 Dorsal fan with a black blotch, a dark spot on each spine and ray just above the sheath Seas of India 



6. G&res ahbreviatus, B^^ A. f L. 1. 37-40, L. tr. 6/11. Highest dorsal spine almost as long as the 

 head : pectoral long. Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago. 



7. Gerres poeti, D A, A. f, L. 1 40, L tr 6/11. Highest dorsal spine as long as the head excluding the 

 snout. Red Sea, seas ot India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



.X, -L ^^11 ^^^?*^*'P- t'o> A. f, L. 1. 35, L. tr. 4/10. Highest dorsal spine as long as the head behind 

 the middle of the orbit. Seas of India. ° 



1. Gerres setifer, Plate XXV, fig. I. 

 Chcmda (?) setifer* Ham. Buch. Pish. Ganges, pp. 105, 370. 

 Gerres altispinis, Giinther, Catal. iy, p. 258. 



Chanda (?) setifer, (H. Buchanan's MSS. figure). 



B. vi, D. ii, P. 17, V. 1/5, A. f, C. 19, L. 1. 38, L. tr. 5/10. 



Length of head 4/17 to 1/4, of caudal 1/5, height of body 1/8 of the total length. Eyes — diameter 1/3 of 

 length of head, nearly 1 diameter from end of snout, and 1 apart. The groove for the posterior process of the 

 premaxillary reaches to opposite the first third of the orbit, it is posteriorly rounded and scaleless. The maxilla 



* Buchanan observes of his Germs, Chanda, or " Silvery fishes," that " the first (Chwnda seUfer) has the strongest affinity to 

 the Zeus msiiMator, so that all of them no doubt belong to the same genus with that fish, ajthongh I cannot help thinking that, to 

 include them in the same genus with Zens cil/ums and Zeus faber is an unnatural arrangement" (Buchanan 1. c- p. 103), " as in the 

 genera already described there are, as it were, certain intermediate species, so in this the two first (Chanda seUfer and C. ruconius) 

 * * * have but little of the transparency, which forms part of the generic character" (1. c. p. 104). 



