2G4 ACANTHOPTERTGII. 



lengtli witliout the snout, and its height equals 4/7 of its length. Snout somewhat pointed. Cleft of mouth 

 rather oblique, the maxilla reaches to below the front edge of the eye. Greatest depth of preorbital equals 

 1 diameter of the eye. Preopercle entire : a spine on opercle and another at shoulder. Teeife— outer row in 

 upper jaw enlarged, as are also 8 or 10 of the anterior ones in the lower jaw, also four or five of the outer 

 ones in the middle of the lateral teeth : teeth on vomer. J'ms— fourth dorsal spine longest and equal to 1 

 diameter of the orbit. Pectoral equals 3/4 of the length of the head. Ventral reaches the anal. Caudal cut 

 square, having its upper ray a Httle prolonged. CoZows— upper half of body and head grayish-brown with 

 irregular vertical gray lines, also one or two narrow and interrupted or entire lines al^ng the side : three or 

 more white spots each having a black centre along either side of the abdomen. Some natrow dark lines pass 

 obliquely backwards and downwards from the eye over the sides of the head, others go directly backwards. A 

 black spot on the base of the first dorsal, its edges also dark : three rows of black spots along the soft dorsal 

 which also has a dark edge, one along the anal. A large black blotch on the caudal extending half its length, 

 and having a large white blotch behind it, the whole of the caudal vertically barred with spots. 



In the " Catal. of Fishes of the British Museum," P. pohjophthcchna is united with P. hexopMhahna, 

 hut in the Fishes of Zanzibar they are again separated for the reasons advanced in Cuv. and Val. ; that 

 all the specimens with three ocellated spots on each side (P. hexopMhahna), have about ten narrow oblique 

 brown lines radiating from the lower part of the eye, over the opercles,. whilst the specimens with six or seven 

 ocelH on each side (P. polyophthalma) have the sides of the head dotted. 



Habitat. — Red Sea, East coast of Africa, seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. The 

 specimen figured (from the Andamans) is 8 inches in length. 



Genus, 2 — Sillago,* Cuv. 



Sillacpnodes and Sillacfinopsis, Gill. 



Branchiostegals six: pseudobranchice. Body elongated, somewhat cylindrical. Head conical, with its 

 m uciferous system well developed. Qill-openings wide : eyes lateral or directed slightly upwards. Cleft of 

 mouth short: the upper jaw the longer. Preopercle serrated or creiudated : opercle ending in a point. YiUiform 

 teeth in the jaws with the outer row rather conical, also present on vomer, none on the palatines. Two dorsal fins, the 

 first with nine to twelve spines, which are less than the rays (19-27) of the soft dorsal, wliich last is similar to the anal : 

 rentrals thoracic, with one spine and five rays : lower pectoral rays branched. Scales ctenoid. Lateral-lme not 

 continued on to the caudal f/n. Air-vessel simple. Pyloric appendages fem. 



These fishes having much the appearance of Sciama and placed in that genus by Bloch, are 

 esteemed light and wholesome food : as they ascend rivers and tidal estuaries they may be captured almost 

 throughout the year. 



Geographical distrihtition. — Red Sea, seas of India to the Malay Archipelajo and beyond. 



SYNOPSIS OP SPECIES. 



1. Sillago domina, D. 9 | a-i-l-jy, A. 2-6-ttj L. 1. 90. Second dorsal spine very elongate. Upper portion of 

 Bay of Bengal to Burma and the Malay Archipelago. 



2. Sillago sihama, D. 10-11 | To-2-3. -^- ^2-3, L- 1- 70-74, L. tr. 5-6/12. Eyes, diameter 4 to 5 in length 

 of head. A silvery longitudinal band : minute black points on dorsal and anal fins. Red Sea, seas of India to 

 the Malay Archipelago and-beyond. 



3. Sillago maculata, D. 11 | -^\, A. ^, L. 1. 70, L. tr. 6/10. Eyes, diameter 2| in length of head. Dark 

 blotches along the sides, first dorsal superiorly black. Andamans and the Malay Archipelago to S.E. Austraha. 



1. Sillago domina, Plate LVIII, fig^. 3. 



Cuv. and Val. iii, p. 415, pi. 69 ; Cuv. Reg. Anim. 111. Poiss. pi. 13, f. 1 ; Swainson, Fkhes, if, p. 205 ; 

 Cantor, Catal. p. 21 ; Gunther, Catal. ii, p. 246. 



SiUaginopsis domina. Gill. Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Phil. 1861, p. 505. 

 Yarra-soring, Tel. . Tool-danti, Ooriah. 



B. vi, D. 9 I ^l^, P. 24, V. 1/6, A. ^V, C. 19, L. 1. 90, L. tr. 5-6/14, Csec. pyl. 4. 



Length of head 3f to 4, of pectoral 6, of caudal 7 to 8, height of body 7 to 8 in the total length. 

 i?!/es— situated m the commencement of the anterior half of the head, 3^- to 4 diameters from end of snout, and 

 li to 2 apart. Body, subcylindrical. Head depressed, pyriform : cheeks, swollen. Greatest width of head 

 equals 2^, and its height 2i m its length : upper jaw the longer : the maxilla extends to half way between the 

 snout and the anterior extremity of the orbit : opercle with a very small spine in the centre of its posterior 

 margin : other opercles entire. Teei/i— vilHform in both jaws with an external conical row, the largest (four) being 

 m the centre of the upper jaw. A transverse semicircular band of villiform ones on the vomer. Pm^s— dorsal 

 commences slightly behind the pectoral, its first spine short, its second of varying length, but in large specimens 

 appears usually to extend to the base of the caudal fin, there are some fine scales on the interspinous membrane 

 between it and the thu-d spine. Second dorsal rather highest in front where it equals 2/3 of the height of the body : 

 pectoral rounded The first two rays of the anal are undivided and have articulated extremities, form of fin 

 •simdar to that of the second dorsal : caudal lobed, the upper the longer. Scales— strongly ctenoid, in regular 

 horizontal rows, extending over cheeks, and between the eyes, as far forwards as the anterior nostril. Some fine 

 ones over the base of the pectoral and nearly to the extremity of caudal. LideraUine-Aescends very gently 



* Family, SiLLA6iKib.a), Riehardsen. 



