ON THE ICHTHYOLOGY OF THE SEAS OF CHINA AND JAPAN. 311 



ventrals and anal are pale and transparent, and the pectoral lemon-yellow. The scales of the 

 lateral line are marked by the same kind of silvery furrows as M. setipinnis. 

 Hab. Chinese seas. 



Elops machnata, Forskal, No. 100 {Argentina). Synode chinois, Lacep. 



v. p. 319. 322. pi. 10. f. I. male. Jinagow, Russell, 179. Elops machnata, 



Richardson, Ichth. of Voy. of Ereb. and Terror, p. 59. pi. 36. fig. 3-5. 



Icon. Reeves, 137; Hardw. Malac. . Chinese name, Chuh keaou, 



, " Bamboo " (Reeves). 



Mr. Reeves has deposited a specimen from Canton in the British Museum. This fish is 

 totally distinct from the Mugil salmoneus of Forster, a figure of which is given in the ' Ich- 

 thyology of the Voyage of the Erebus and Terror,' pi. 36. fig. 1, 2. 



Hab. Seas of China and India. Red sea. 



Elops purpurascens, Richardson. Icon. Reeves, a. 53 ; Hardw. Malac. 

 . Chinese name, Chuh kin, "Variegated bamboo" (Reeves). Length 

 of figure lOf inches. 



This drawing does not differ very greatly from the preceding one in form, but it represents 

 a fish having a more irregular dorsal outline and less arched, a more convex belly, and the 

 lateral line slightly decurved throughout its whole length. The face is gibbous just before 

 the eye, and there is a less marked convexity at the nape. The summit of the back is grass- 

 green, beneath which a blackish-purple band extends from the nape to the upper lobe of the 

 caudal, terminating rather abruptly about half-way to the lateral line. The rest of the side 

 is brightly silvery with a slight gloss of pearl-gray. The top of the head is grass-green. 

 The edges of the maxillaries and gill-pieces are green and crimson. The dorsal and caudal 

 are leek-green, passing into blackish-green on the rays and edges; the ventrals and anal are 

 pale mountain-green with some yellow ; and the pectorals are bright sulphur-yellow sprinkled 

 with a few dark green specks. The cluster of black dots on the cheeks and preoperculum 

 of E. machnata are not shown in this figure. 



Hab. Chinese seas. 



Chirocentrus dorab, Forskal, No. 108 {Clupea). Clupea dentex, Bl. 

 Schn. 428. EEsoce chirocentre, Lacep. Wahlah, Russell, 199; Descript. 

 of Anim. p. 194. fig. 161, taken at Madras and named by Broussonnet 

 Esox clupeoides. Icon. Reeves, (j. 47 ; Hardw. Malac. 237, Chinese ; 

 Hardw. Malac. 239, Indian. Chinese name, Poo taou, " Cloth knife " 

 (Birch) ; Poo tou, " Knife cloth" (Reeves); Po to (Bridgem. Chrest. 90). 

 Pad. D. 16 ; A. 34, first two minute ; C. 19ff ; P. 16 ; V. 7. Length of 

 spec. 10£ inches. Genus, Chirocentrus, Cuv. Regn. An. 



The British Museum possesses a specimen in spirits from Canton presented by Mr. Reeves, 

 which we have not had an opportunity of comparing with the Indian fish. The drawings 

 of the latter differ a little in the position of the ventrals, but as this may have been owing 

 to inattention, we have not kept the Chinese fish distinct. 



The Chinese specimen has a long canine on each small transverse intermaxillary. The 

 strap-shaped maxillary reaches to the middle of the orbit and the articulation of the lower 

 jaw; its edge is armed with small subulate teeth, which become very minute towards its tip. 

 Each limb of the lower jaw is furnished with five or six tall slender teeth inclining backwards, 

 and having a short tooth between each pair. The ventrals are as near as possible in the mid- 

 dle of the length, excluding the whole caudal fin from the bases of its lobes. A long nacry 

 appendage exists in front of the pectoral, and there is another in its axilla; but the rest of 

 the skin is wrinkled and smooth, without scales, and resembling fine tinfoil in its lustre. The 

 teeth on the edge of the belly, shown in Mr. Reeves's figure, are not formed by pungent 

 scales, but by the points of the ribs. The belly is acute, like a knife, from the gills to the 

 anal. The cheek is soft and nacry, and the skin of the temples is striated. The head has a 

 scomberoid aspect above and its lateral ridges are smooth. 



The colour of the back is pistachio-green, the rest of the fish brightly silvery with purplish 

 reflexions, and the courses of the muscles are shown by oblique lines meeting in the middle 

 height. Fins yellowish-gray, the edges of the caudal shaded with blackish-gray. 



Hab. Seas of India and China. 



