248 report — 1845. 



phalotus, Cantor, Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist. xi. p. 29. Had. D. 4|-1|8 ; 

 A. S|9 ; C. 14| ; P. 16 ; V. 1|5. (Cantor's Spec. Brit. Mus.) 



Hab. Seas of Japan and China. Estuaries and canals (Cantor). 



Mugil (vel Cestrjeus ?) xanthurus, Richardson. Icon. Reeves, 127 ; 

 Hardw. Acanth. 260. Chinese name, Hwang wet tze, "Yellow-tailed 

 parer" (Birch) ; Hwang ne tsae, "Yellow-tailed" (Reeves); Wong ne 

 tsai (Bridgem. Chrest. 117). 



This Mullet has a close resemblance in form to japonicus, but as it is a little more slender 

 and its colours differ, we have given it a distinct name. The snout is represented as pro- 

 jecting beyond the lower jaw, which shuts close up beneath it. The back is coloured pale 

 leek-green, the sides and belly being silvery and pearly, with a short dark streak in the 

 middle of each scale, making six or seven rows, none being perceptible below the middle of 

 the fish. There are some hyacinth-red tints on the face and edges of the gill-pieces, and a 

 pale-blue shading in the middle of the operculum. The pectoral is honey-yellow, very dark 

 at the base and pale at the end. The membrane of the first dorsal is very pale-red lilac ; the 

 second dorsal is wood-brown ; the ventrals and anal buff-orange, the latter having an opake 

 white bar at its base. The caudal is gamboge-yellow with a crimson border in the notch. 



Hab. Sea of China. Canton. 



Mugil melancranus, Icon. Reeves, 73 ; Hardw. Acanth. 259. Chinese 

 name, Woo tow (Birch) ; Ootow, "Black head" (Reeves); Utau (Bridgem. 

 Chrest. 119). 



In Sir Edward Belcher's collection, which was formed chiefly in the China seas, though 

 specimens from other parts of the ocean were mixed with the fish there taken, I find a Mugil 

 having a close resemblance to Mr. Reeves's drawing above quoted, except that the belly is 

 rather more prominent. The upper lip is more fleshy and the orifice of the mouth consider- 

 ably larger than in M. strongylocephalus, exceeding the size of the orbit in both directions. 

 The under lip is horizontal with a slightly notched keel, and the teeth, which penetrate it, 

 are sufficiently visible to the naked eye. The slender maxillary is visible nearly for its whole 

 length when the mouth is closed, but it scarcely projects beyond the preorbitar, which has a 

 straight front edge finely toothed, and ends in a point formed by a tooth larger than the rest. 

 It is the tapering narrow form of this bone, and not a notch, which prevents it from concealing 

 the maxillary. The length of the head and height of the body are equal, and rather exceed 

 a fifth of the length of the fish. The pectorals are contained six times and three-quarters in 

 the same length, and the lobes of the caudal four times and a third. The thickness at the gill- 

 plates is equal to two-thirds of the height of the body, but under the first dorsal the thickness 

 is less than half the height. There are thirty-seven scales in a row, besides some small ones 

 on the caudal, and eleven rows under the first dorsal. Each scale has eight or ten fan-like 

 furrows diverging from a small tube before the middle of the disc, and the free border of the 

 scale is tessellated by worn teeth, which, though minute, show on the edge. There are 

 none of the branching lines seen in the scale of strongylocephalus, in which also the only ap- 

 pearance of ptenoid structure is obscure and confined to the middle of the disc. The second 

 dorsal and anal are scaly, and the latter commences a little sooner and ends a little further 

 from the caudal. The caudal is also minutely scaly almost to the tips of its lobes. The top 

 of the head is flat from the preoperculum forwards, but is much narrower than that of macro - 

 lepidotus ; the nape is flatly rounded. There are the usual long scales at the first dorsal, 

 above the pectoral and ventrals, and between the latter, but none of them are very conspicuous. 

 The remains of a blue mark on the front base of the pectorals and a purple tint in the axilla 

 are still visible in the specimen, which differs from cceruleo-maculatus and axillaris in the 

 pectorals not being long or pointed. 



In Mr. Reeves's drawing, the top of the head, a circle round the eye, and the borders of the 

 gill-pieces are dark oil-green ; the top of the back is greenish-gray, and the sides silvery, with 

 a yellowish-gray line through the middle of each row of scales. The pectorals are orpiment- 

 orange with a blue mark on the scaly base, and the other fins are greenish-gray. Length of 

 specimen 7*7 inches; from snout to gill-opening, 1*65 inch ; to anus, 4 inches ; to end of 

 scales on base of caudal, C - 1 5. Height under the first dorsal, 7*55. Thickness at gill-plates, 

 0*95. Between the orbits, 0'65. Thickness of back under the first dorsal, 0*70 inch. 



It is probable that this species is the Mullet referred to by Dr. Cantor as inhabiting the 

 Peiho, and supposed by him to be the Mugil parsia of Buchanan Hamilton (Ganges, pi. 17. 

 f. 21), Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. p. 15. 



Hab. China seas ? (Belcher). Canton (Reeves). 



