344 ACANTHOPTERTGII. 



Family, XXXIII— ATHERINIDiE, G'unther. 



Branohiostegals five or six: pseudobranchias. Tour gills: gill-opening wide. Body more or less 

 elongated and somewhat sub-cylindrical. Eyes lateral. Gape of mouth of moderate width : cleft not very 

 deep. Teeth minute. Two dorsal fins, not joined, the spines of the first feeble, and less in number than the 

 rays of the second, which is similar to the anal : ventral abdominal, with one spine and five rays. Scales of 

 medium size, cycloid. Lateral-line indistinct. Pyloric appendages, if present, few. Air-vessel present. 

 Vertebras numerous in the abdominal and caudal portions. 



Geographical distribuiion. — These pretty little fishes, with, a burnished silvery lateral band, are distributed 

 in nearly all the seas of temperate and tropical regions, they are captured in numbers along the coast, and also 

 in estuaries and tidal rivers when not far removed from the sea. 



Uses. — ^Although so small, being rarely 3 inches in length, they are dried in the sun and exported to 

 distant markets. Many are imported into the Western coast of India from the Arabian Gulf, but these before 

 being sun-dried are evidently soaked in brine. 



Genus, 1 — Athbeina, Artedi. 



Body somewhat sub-cylindrical, with slightly compressed sides. Snout more or less obtuse, with the elefl of the 

 mouth oblique, extending bachwa/rds to at least as fwr as to below the wnterior edge of the orbit. Teeth very minute, 

 but usually present on jaws, palate, and tongue. Ventrals some dista/iice posterior to the pectorals. Scales of mediate 

 size. Air-vessel present. Pyloric appendages, when present, few. Ova compa/rati/uely very large. A silvery lateral 

 band. 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 



a. Teeth on palate. 



1. Atherina pinguis, D. 6-6 | ^, A. ^^l^r, L. 1. 42-45. East coast of Africa, seas of India, Malay Archi- 

 pelago, and beyond. 



.Li. ^r ?• "^t^erina Forskalii, D. 6-6 | -g-.i^, A. tjItt. L- 1- 40. Red Sea, East coast of Africa, seas of India to 

 the Malay -Arohipelago. 



3. Atherina duodecimalis, D. 5 | i A. ■^, L. 1. 35. Ceylon and Malay Archipelago. 



t. No palatine teeth. 



4. Atherina melamstigma, D. 5 | t^, A. ■^, L. 1. 37. Madras. 



A. Teeth on palate. 



1. Atherina pinguis. 

 Athervna hepsetus, Forsk. p. 69 (not Linn ) 



rn.f;,pf pif ^^■'^^"''qoo^^^i ^' P:.?^^ P^- ^^' *-"l ! ^1^^^^^' ^ct- Soc. Ned. Ind. viii, and Sumatra, viii, p. 24; 

 Gunther, Catal. in, p. 399 ; Klunz. Verb. z. b. Ges. Wien, 1870, p 833 . . F . 



Atherma affinis, Benn. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1831, i, p. 166. 



Atherina pectoralis, Cuv. and Val. x, p. 447. 



B. Ti, D. 5-6 I ^, P. 16, V. 1/6, A.' ^l^, C. 17, L. 1. 42-45, L. tr. 7, Vert. 20/23. 



enS 15 ^+; II t.^*"'"*,"^ -t'T "i^ °* «'^°^*' ^^"i 1 apa'-t- The width of the head equals two-thirds of its 

 iea£ To bplni £ fl T/ Jx}^^^}: ^^''l^d^g t^ie snout. Upper jaw overlapping the lower : the maxiUa 

 rstPrior.r,Hi7fl,l 1 ^"""^-^ °^ *^ '^"- Teeth-distinct in the jaws, vomer, and palatines. Fms-the 



faTera?ba^dliSp« +r t''i ^f^TT^y ^^tween the snout and base of the first dorsal fin. Golours-the silvery 

 It uleredrSp ""Y" °^^\^^^^ ^^d upper quarter of the fourth rows of scales : a blackish mark on 

 the upper edge of the eye, also on posterior end of the pectoral and caudal fins. 



of the antpWn. n3 ''''^T I P°'*iT °* *^" vertebral column are nearly of equal length : the apophyses 

 GuntLri c form a canal for the air-bladder, J in A boy eri and other species." 



51 inchStn len^?'* '°*'* °^ ^^'''^' '"*' "^ ^""^ *° *^^ ^^^^^ Archipelago and beyond. It attains at least 



