12 gangetic fishes. Order I. 



and of an uninviting appearance, they are seldom eaten, and 

 in an economical view are of no importance. Their heads have 

 no scales, and the tubes, in which they terminate, are slightly 

 compressed, and nearly of the same length with the head. 

 Their bodies are as it were jointed, each joint being encircled 

 by a hard scale, which covers the whole. The number of 

 angles in the body varies in the different species ; but, in the 

 tail, which tapers to a point, all have four acute angles. All 

 the species which we have belong to the second division of 

 La Cepede, having four fins, one on the back, two pectorals, 

 and that on the tail. 



1st Species. — Syngnathus cuncalus. 



A syngnathus with four fins ; and with seven angles on the 

 body, which contains eighteen joints, while the tail has twenty- 

 five. 



1 found the cuncalus in the estuaries near Calcutta. It has a 

 strong affinity to the S. pelagicas of La Cepede, {Hist, des 

 Poissons, Tome II. p. 40,) but differs in the number of joints 

 and of the rays in the fins. In the month of September the 

 female fish has her belly, from the throat to the vent, covered 

 with eggs adhering fast to the scales. 



The fish in colour is green above, and white beneath, with a 

 gloss of silver on the sides. On the back several dusky lines, 

 intersecting each other, form a net-work. On each side is a 

 longitudinal stripe formed of numerous dots. The eyes are 

 silvery. 



The head is very small, and narrower than the body, com- 

 pressed at the sides, and straight above. The nostrils are far 

 back, and each contains one small aperture. The eyes are far 

 up, globular and protuberant, with circular pupils. The mem- 



