338 ACANTHOPTERTGII. 



Family, XXXI— RHYNCHOBDELLID^, Bleeker, 



Scomleroidei, pt., Cuv. and Val. ; Mastacemhelidce, Giinther. 



Branchiostegals six : pseudobranchiaB absent. Gill-opening, a slit on the side of the head : gills four. 

 Body elongated, eel-shaped. Humeral arch not suspended from the skull. Lower jaw long, but without 

 much power of motion. A single long dorsal fin, its anterior portion consisting of free spines : anal with 

 three spines anterior to it : soft dorsal and anal of similar extent : ventral fins absent. Air-vessel present. 

 Pyloric appendages two. 



Geographical distribution. — Fresh and brackish waters of Syria, Sind, India, Ceylon, Burma, the Malay 

 Archipelago. They are found far inland, and often at great elevations. 



Uses — excellent as food, although owing to their resemblance to eels (in fact they are eels with 

 spines) or snakes some people object to them. Buchanan observes that they " have less of a disgusting 

 appearance than those called Murcena, and are more sought after by the natives, the highest of whom in 

 Bengal make no scruple of eating them ; and by Europeans they are esteemed the best of the eel-kind." 

 They salt well, but their flesh is reputed to be slightly heating. 



SYNOPSIS OF GENEEA. 



1. BhyncJwhdella. Snout fleshy, transversely striated inferiorly : no preorbital spine. From Syria, 

 Sind, India, Burma, to the Malay Archipelago, and beyond. 



2. Mastacembelus. Snout fleshy, not transversely striated inferiorly : a preorbital spine. From Syria, 

 through India, to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



Genus, 1 — UnrNCHOBDELLA, Block, Schneider. 

 Mastacembelus, Gronov. 



Branchiostegals six. Cleft of mouth narrow : a long and fleshy snout, inferiorly concave, and transversely 

 striated. Minute teeth on jaws and vomer. Dorsal and anal not confluerd ivith the caudal fin. Scales small, 

 cycloid. Lateral-line present. Air-vessel elongated. 



Geographical distribution. — Prefers ponds or pieces of water in which mud abounds: it is found 

 in the deltas of all large rivers of Sind, India, and Burma. 



SYNOPSIS OP INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 

 1. Bhynchobdella aculeata, D. 16-20 | 44-54, A. 2-3 | 44-52. A series of from three to nine large black 

 ocelli, with a light edge, along the base of the soft dorsal fin (they are occasionally absent). Deltas of large 

 Indian and Burmese rivers. 



1. Rhynehobdella aculeata, Plate LXXII, fig. 1. 

 Ophidium aculeatum, Bloch. tab. 169, f. 2 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1147. 

 lihynahobdella Orientalis, Bl. Schn. p. 478. 



Bhynchobdella a/ral, Bl. Schn. p. 479, tab. 89 ; Cuv. and Val. viii, p. 445, pi. 239. 

 Macrognathus aculeatus, Lacep. ii, p. 284 ; Ham. Buch. pp. 29, 364. 

 Bhynchobdella ocellata, Cuv. and Val. viii, p. 445. 

 Mastacembelus pentophthalmos, Gronov. ed Gray, p. 172. 



BhyncJiobdella aculeata, Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1848, p. 147 ; Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 540. 

 Aral Tam. ; Bommiday, Telugu ; Theliya, Singhalese (Tennant) ; Toa-rah, Assam. ; Sand and Spined eels; 

 Bara and Thuri, Ooriah ; Nga mawaydoh nya, Burmese. 



B. vi, D. 16-20 I 44-54, P. 23, A. 2-3 | 44-52, C. 15, Vert. 32/40. 



. . 1 I'^^'i?*^ °l head from 5 to 6, of pectoral '23 to 28, of caudal 10 to 16, height of body 8 to 10 in the 

 total length. Eyes—1 diameter apart. Snout fleshy, elongated, with a trUobed anterior extremity, its 

 mfenor surface concave, transversely striated. The maxilla reaches to below the front nostrU. Preopercle 

 entire, no preorbital spme. Fins— the first dorsal consisting of spines, which increase in length posteriorly, 

 they begm at the commencement of the second seventh of the length of the fish. Soft dorsal and anal separated 

 by a deep notch from the caudal, which is rounded. Second pre-anal spine longest and strongest. Air-vessel- 

 extends ironi the head to the anus. OoZomw— brownish or greenish, marbled superiorly, becomiuR yeUowish 

 along the abdomen: a light band along the body just above the lateral-line. A series of from three 

 to nme large black ocelli, having a white or bug" edge, along the base of the soft dorsal fin. Caudal with from 

 six to eight vertical brown bars, fins otherwise grayish. Pectoral sometimes yellow. The body has 

 several longitudinal bands in Smd. •' 



