ON THE ICHTHYOLOGY OF THE SEAS OP CHINA AND JAPAN. 249 



Mugil h^ematocheilus, Temm. et Schl. F.J. Sieb. p. 135. pi. 62. f. 2. 

 Icon. Reeves, ft. 49 ; Hardw. Acanth. 262. Chinese name, Keuen yu y 

 " Dog's fish" (Reeves, Birch). 



Hab. Seas of China and Japan. 



Mugil macrolepidotus, Riippell, Atlas, p. 140, tafel. f. 2. a. b.; C. et V. 

 xi. p. 136. 



A specimen of this fish exists in Sir E. Belcher's collection. 



Hab. Red sea (Riippell). Polynesia and Indian ocean (C. etV.). China seas? (Belcher.) 



Mugil strongylocephalus, Richardson. 



The Haslar Museum possesses an example of this fish, procured at Hong Kong by Surgeon 

 R. A. Bankier, R.N. The orifice of the extended mouth is small and triangular, the lips are 

 thin with acute edges, the lower one being horizontal with a central notched keel. The teeth 

 are invisible to the naked eye, but with a lens their points may be seen protruding through 

 the edges of the lips like fine hairs. The jaws have considerable protractility, and when 

 thrust out, the maxillaries are wholly seen ; but when the mouth is retracted they are com- 

 pletely hidden. The preorbitar is very narrow, with a rounded and finely toothed tip, behind 

 which a smooth shallow groove turns round the edge of the bone, giving it a twisted appear- 

 ance ; but there is no distinct notch and no teeth on the fore-edge of the bone. In profile 

 the fish has considerable resemblance to the macrolepidotus of Riippell (Atlas, 35. f. 2), but 

 when seen from above, its snout, though rounded, is much narrower, being little more than 

 half as wide as the head is at the gill-covers. It differs from cceruleo-maculatus (C. et V. xi. 

 p. 128) and its allies in not having a thick upper lip. The height of the body is to the whole 

 length of the fish as 1 to 5£ ; the thickness, which is greatest at the gill-plates, as 1 to 7*8 ; and 

 the length of the head as 1 to 46. In profile the fish closely resembles M. parsia of Bu- 

 chanan Hamilton (pi. 17. f. 21), and the curve is regular from the dorsal to the nostrils. 

 When viewed from above, however, there appears a greater narrowness of the snout, which, 

 though obtuse, has not more than half the width at the nostrils that it has at the gill-plates. 

 The head is also much and evenly rounded off laterally, being in nowise flattened. It differs 

 further from parsia in the maxillary being entirely concealed. The cleft of the shut mouth 

 is bent en chevron, the angle being at the symphysis. An adipose substance, such as exists at 

 certain seasons in the Mackerel, invests the temples and front of the eye, partially covering 

 the preorbitar and leaving a vertically elliptical part of the eye visible. Thirty-one scales 

 form a row between the gill-opening and caudal, and there are ten rows in the height of the 

 body. Each scale has from seven to twelve basal furrows with a corresponding number of 

 crenatures, a small central tube with a fine line running back from it and branching off to the 

 various furrows, and on the posterior or free border there are thirty or forty fine lines com- 

 mencing near the tube and becoming fissures on the extreme edge, producing so many flat and 

 extremely thin teeth set like those of a fine comb. The central tubes, when the scales are in 

 situ, produce, in conjunction with the basal furrows which shine through, the appearance of as 

 many lateral lines as there are rows of scales, causing the marks on each scale to appear com- 

 pound, though they are really simple. On the head there are several scales which have each 

 two or three contiguous deeply impressed furrows on their discs ; these produce one row on 

 each temple, and another on each side more interiorly, which are connected by a transverse 

 row on the nape, and also by a cross row at the orbits. Th« anal commences a little before 

 the dorsal, and al60 ends sooner, though it is a little larger. The difference of origin is not 

 so great as in M. parsia. Neither of the fins are large, and they are both scaly. The first 

 anal spine is so minute that it can be detected only by dissection. The fourth spine of the first 

 dorsal is short and slender. There are pointed scaly processes over the pectorals and ven- 

 trals, and one between the latter fins. No peculiar markings remain on the specimen, which, 

 except that the tips of the pectorals are broken, is in excellent condition. The scales are 

 bright, and the whole fore-part back to the anus is dark bronze-coloured, more as if the fish 

 had been stained by others in the same jar than like an original marking. There is no spot 

 on the base of the pectoral. Length 7 inches; from snout to anus, 3*8 inches; to dorsal, 

 2*85 inches; to termination of scales on the tail, 5*75 inches. Length of head, 1*35 inch. 

 Height of body, 1*5 inch. Thickness at gill-plates, 0*90 inch. 



Hab. Sea of China. Hong Kong. 



Mugil ventricosus, Richardson. Icon. Reeves, ft. 31 ; Hardw. Acanth. 

 261. Chinese name, Pah tze, " White-mullet" (Reeves) ; Pih tse, " White 

 parer" (Birch); Patz tsai (Bridgem. direst. 118). 

 This Mullet, which is known to us only by the figure, is remarkable for its slender-pointed 



