310 REPORT— 1845. 



wc have little doubt but the synonyms we have cited above are correct, as the figures show 

 the characteristic black mark with white veins on the shoulder, and the indistinct stripe along 

 the middle of the anal. Mr. Reeves's drawing however, which agrees with his specimens, 

 shows a slight gibbosity on the hind head, which is not represented in the figures of Bloch 

 and Russell. 



The head is acutely ridged from the nape to the end of the snout, the sides sloping down 

 to the lateral ridges. The intermaxillaries are small and lie in the same line with the long, 

 slender acute maxillaries, which are composed of three pieces. These and the lower jaw are 

 set with fine teeth. There is no tongue, and the gills coming forward to the tip of the lower 

 jaw are connected by a narrow ridge-like isthmus, which is rough with minutely villiform 

 teeth. The head is contained nearly six times in the total length ; the height of the body 

 somewhat exceeds a fifth of the length, and the thickness is contained twice and a half times 

 in the height. The belly is serrated by thirteen teeth before the ventrals and nine behind 

 them. There are eleven rows of scales in the height of the body, and thirty-eight in a row 

 between the gill-opening and base of the caudal. 



The dorsal surface is coloured by dark grass-green, which is mixed with brown on the top 

 of the head ; the lower parts are brightly silvery. The black humeral patch is finely veined 

 with white. The dorsal and ventrals are pistachio-green, the former being blackish on the 

 edges and tinged with yellow in front. The anal is yellow in front, the rest of the fin being 

 green, darkening along the middle so as to form a stripe. The caudal is greenish at the base ; 

 bright saffron-yellow on the disc, and blackish-green on the edges. The pectoral is also saf- 

 fron-yellow, and is sparingly mottled with blackish-green. 



Hab. Seas of China and India. 



Megalops setipinnis, J. R. Forster, in Jigurd Georgio Forster pict. 242. 

 Bib. Banks ; Richardson, Ann. Nat. Hist. x. p. 493. Clupea thrissoides, 

 Schn. 424. cum CI. cyprinoide, Bl. 403. confusd; Clupea cyprinoides, 

 Broussonnet, Ichth. (non Blochii) ; Kundinga, Russell, 203 ? Icon. 

 Reeves, 96 ; Hard w. Malac. 234. Chinese name, Hang tsaou pik, " Ditch 

 dead white " (Birch) ; Hang tso pah (Reeves, Bridgem. Chrest. 88). 

 Had. Br. 21-22 ; D. 18 vel 19 ; A. 25 ; C. 20J; P. 15 ; V. 10. (Spec. 

 Br. Mus.) 



We have not seen an Indian or Chinese example of this species, but specimens exist in the 

 British Museum from Port Essington, and have been described at length in the 'Annals and 

 Magazine of Natural History' as above quoted. One anomaly occurs in Mr. Reeves's draw- 

 ing, the existence of a pointed canine tooth in the upper jaw, whereas in the specimens the 

 edges of the jaws are rough with very narrow bands of minute teeth. The colours in the 

 Chinese painting are also different from those described by Forster, but Broussonnet's figure, 

 as well as George Forster's, correspond exactly in profile and size of fins, shape of head, &c, 

 with Mr. Reeves's drawing. Russell's seems distorted, probably from the flaccidity of the 

 specimen. 



The discs of the scales are like frosted silver, and they have a well-defined border of a 

 polished silvery appearance. The scales of the lateral line are forty in number, and they are 

 marked by six or seven radiating, forked furrows. In Mr. Reeves's drawing the bases of the 

 scales on the back are shaded with bluish-lilac, which gradually changes on the sides and belly 

 to celandine-green. The sides of the head are oil- and siskin-green, the occiput being tinged 

 with hyacinth-red. The pectorals are yellow, which is mixed with brown on the upper 

 border ; the last ray of the dorsal is sulphur-yellow ; the rest of the fins are hair-brown, the 

 fronts of the dorsal and anal being wood-brown. Iris grass-green. 



Hab. Seas of China, India, Australia and Polynesia. Brackish lagoons, Port Essington. 



Megalops curtifilis, Richardson. Icon. Reeves, 136 ; Hardw. Malac. 

 Chinese name, Keyu (Birch); Koyu (Reeves); Ki u (Bridgem. Chrest. 

 86). Length of figure 8 inches. 



This drawing represents a rather more slender fish than M. setipinnis, with a smaller eye, 

 narrower maxillary, fewer scales both longitudinally and vertically, the dorsal commencing 

 farther back over the axilla of the ventrals, and having with the anal fewer rays. The last 

 ray of the dorsal is shorter, and the last anal one more decidedly lengthened than the corre- 

 sponding rays oi C. setipinnis. The bright silvery edges of the scales are not so sharply defined 

 and distinguished from the discs, which in this iis.li are leek-green above the lateral line, and 

 gradually change to pearl-gray towards the belly. The upper parts of the head are dark olive- 

 green. The dorsal and caudal approach to blackish-green, the latter being very dark ; the 



