248 ACANTHOPTERTGn. 



Family, XVIII— COEYPHiEMD^, (pt.) Swainson, 



Branchiostegals from five to seven : pseudobranchiae present or absent. Body oblong or elevated and 

 compressed. Gill-openings wide. Eyes lateral. The infraorbital bones do not articulate with preopercle. 

 Teeth in the jaws, present or absent on the palate, none in the sesophagus. One long dorsal fin, without 

 distinct spinous division : ventrals thoracic, (except in Pteradis, when they are jugular). No prominent 

 papilla near the vent. Air-vessel present or absent. Pyloric appendages few or many. Vertebras exceed 

 10/40. 



SYNOPSIS OP GENERA. 



1. CorypTioena. Dorsal fin conunencing on occiput : scales present. 



2. Mene. Dorsal fin commencing on the back : scales absent. 



Genus, 1 — CoETPSJiNA, Gwo. and Val. 



Lampugus (immature), Cuv. and Val. Dolphins. 



BroMcMostegals seven: pseudobra/ncMce absent. Body rather elongdted cmd compressed. Preopercle entire. 

 Teeth vn the jaws, on vomer, palatines, and tongue. A single long dorsal jm extending from the occiput nea/rVy to the 

 ccmdal, hut without distinct spines, neither a/re they appan-ent vn the a/nal : ventral thoracic amd well developed. Scales 

 small, cycloid. Air-vessel absent. Pyloric appendages wwmerous. 



Geographical distribution.- — Seas of temperate and tropical regions. 



Cuvier remarks upon the relative height of the crest on the neck, and suggests the possibility of its being 

 partly due to sex. Giinther considers " that the crest and the anterior part of the dorsal fin become gradually 

 higher with age," Catal. ii, p. 406. 



SYNOPSIS OP INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



1. Goryphmna hippu/rus, D. 58-63, A. 25-27. Gray, becoming golden on the sides and beneath, and 

 covered with small blue spots. Seas of tropical and temperate regions. 



1. Coryphaena hippurus, Plate LIU, fig. 6. 



Linn. Syst. p. 446 . Bloch, t. 174 ; Bl. Schn. p. 295 ; Lacep. iii, pp. 173, 178 ; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 212, 

 pi. 32, f. 1 ; Cuv. and Val. ix, p. 278, pi. 266 ; Guichen, Explor. Sc. Alger. Poiss. p. 63 ; Lowe, Trans. Zool. 

 Soc. n, p. 183, iii, p. 6, and Proc. Z. S. 1839, p. 80; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 406; Steind. Sitz. Ak. Wiss. 1868, 

 p. 370 ; Klunz. Verb. z. b. Ges. Wien, 1871, p. 446. 



Ooryphcena chrysurus, Lacep. ii, pi. 18, f. 2 ; Cuv. and Val. ix, p. 309. 



Coryphcena dorado, Cuv. and Val. is, p. 303 ; Cuv. Reg. An. 111. Poiss. pi. 65, f. 1. 



Coryphcena dolfyn, virgata, and avgyrwrus, Cuv. and Val. ix, pp. 305, 308, 314. 



Lampugus pelagica and ? immaoulatus, Cuv. and Val. ix, pp. 318, 329 (immatme). 



Coryphcena Japonica, Sohleg. Fauna Japon. Poiss. p. 120, pi. 64. 



Badahlan, Tam. : Dolphin. 



, B. vii, D. 58-63, P. 21, V. 1/5, A. 25-27, C. 19. 



Length of head 5i to 6, of caudal 4i- to 4|, height of body 5| to 6^ in the total lengfh. JE?2/e»— diameter 

 1/4 to 1/6 of length of head, 3 diameters from end of snout, and 1| apart. Body elongated and compressed: 

 occipital crest well developed. Cleft of mouth rather oblique, the lower jaw the longer, the maxilla extends to 

 below the middle or last third of the orbit. Opercles and shoulder bones striated but entire. Teeth— in. numerous 

 .viUiform rows in either jaw, with an outer somewhat enlarged one : they are also present on the vomer, palatines, 

 and tongue. Fins— iovsal commences over the posterior edge of the orbit, its first seven or eighfrays gradually 

 increase in length, whilst the last in the fin is not quite 1/3 that of the highest, the fin reaches to a short distance 

 anterior to the root of the caudal. Pectoral falcated : the ana,l commences midway between the anterior margin 

 of the orbit and the base of the caudal fin, it is highest in front, but after the third or fourth rays it becomes 

 paraUel with the abdomen : caudal with deeply pointed lobes. Lateral-line—curvei to opposite the end of the 

 pectoral from whence it goes straight to the centre of the caudal. Golows—ha,6k grayish, shot with gold: 

 abdomen golden, covered with blue spots, which become black after death : dorsal fin liffht blue at the base, 

 becoming black towards the summit. 



, ,n . ^^^™*^ 22nd, 1867, 1 found in the stomach of one of these fishes a Ghmea Neohmoii and the anterior 

 hall 01 an Elops machnata. 



Habitat.— Sea,s of India, Malay Archipelago, &c. ; the one figured (34 inches long) is from Madras : it 

 attams 5 feet or more m length. These dolphins are not uncommon in Madras, and are eaten by-the natives. 



