SUPPLEMENT, 1888. 799 



B. vi, D. 21/4, P. 16, V. 1/3, A. 10/4, C. 17, L. 1. 40, L. tr. 14. 



Length of head 4, of caudal fin 5, height of body 3 in the total length. %es— diameter 

 1/5 of the length of the head, 1 diameter from the end of the snout, and f of a diameter 

 apart. Cleft of month somewhat oblique, the maxilla reaching posteriorly to beneath the 

 hind third of the orbit. Two strong opercular spines. Teeth— in jaws, vomer, and palate. 

 -Fiws— dorsal spines strong, the fins not united with the caudal: pectorals rounded: 

 ventrals long and inserted slightly in front of the base of the pectoral: caudal rounded. 

 Scales — cycloid. Lateral-line — absent. Colours — brownish-black with a milk-white band 

 commencing on the front end of the dorsal fin, and extending to the snout : a white band 

 oyer the free portion of the tail : a white spot at the base of the pectoral fin: one on either 

 side of the base of the mandibles, one on the isthmus. The posterior half of the ventral 

 fin, also a ring round the vent, white : as well as the tip of the caudal fin. 



Habitat. — Madras, where one example, an inch long, was captured. 



Page 336. Add Genus — Ceisticbps, Ouv. and Val. 



Branehiostegals six : pseudolrancMm. Body elongate covered with, small or rudmnentary 

 scales. Gill-opening wide. Cleft of mouth of moderate width, snout short. Usually some 

 tentacles on the head. Fine teeth on the jaws and vomer. Tivo separate dorsal fins, the 

 anterior heing composed of three spines, the posterior with many rays, the majority of which 

 are spines. Ventral jugular ivith one spine and two or three rays. Pyloric appendages 

 absent. Viviparous. 



Habitat. — -Mediterranean, Ceylon to the Malay Archipelago, coasts and rivers of Australia 

 and Tasmania. 



Cristiceps halei. 



B. vi, D. 3/y, P. 13, Y. I, A. tV, C. 14. 



Length of head 4|-, of caudal fin 7, height of body 4f in the total length. Byes — 

 4 diameters in the length of the head, 1 diameter from the end of the snout and nearly 

 1 apart. A broad-fringed supraorbital tentacle and a short simple one on the snout. 

 Teeth — fine in the jaws and on the vomer, none on the palatines or tongue. Fins — first 

 dorsal commences above a vertical line from the bind edge of the eye, and its spines are 

 higher than the front ones in the second dorsal fin, it is not confluent with the caudal. 

 All the pectoral rays unbranched, anal commences below about the eighth spine of the 

 second dorsal : anal with two spines fifteen unbranched and four divided rays. Caudal 

 wedge-shaped. Scales — rudimentary. Lateral-line — with a rather strong curve anteriorly. 

 Colours — brownish-yellow with a white mark behind the lower half of the orbit, and 

 some irregularly- shaped similar markings on the occiput and gill-covers, two more at 

 the base of the pectoral fin, a row of about 12 below the base of the spinous dorsal fin, 

 and two more badly developed rows along the sides of the body, of which the three 

 largest are behind the pectoral fin and are longer than wide. 



Habitat. — Colombo, where it was obtained by Mr. Haly, who is doing such good work 

 among the Ceylon fishes and after whom I have named the single specimen obtained, and 

 which is figured life size. 



Page 337. Xiphasia setifee. Add synonyms. 



? Nemophis lessonii, Kaup, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858, p. 168. 



? Xiphogadus madagascarensis, Playfair, P. Z. S. 1868, p. 11. 



Xiphasia setifer, Ramsay and Ogilby, Linn. Soc. N. S. W. i, 1886, p. 582. 



B. vi, D. 128-129 (233 ?), P. 13, V. 3, A. 115-116, C. 12. 



Length of head 16, of caudal fin 32 in the total length. Eyes — 8f in the length of the 

 head, froin |^ to -f of a diameter apart and 1 diameter from the end of the snout : upper 

 profile of the head rounded. The upper jaw slightly the longer. Teeth — a single row of 

 closely set, recurved, cardiform teeth in the lower jaw, and with a large lateral canine 

 on either side, which is received into a groove in the roof of the mouth. Teeth in the 

 upper jaw similar in size and number to those in the lower, except that the lateral 



