Bola. GANGETIC FISHES. 77 



at the top. The fin behind the vent is scaly, and contains two 

 strong prickles, the first of which is very short, while the se- 

 cond is shorter than the branched rays, which are six or seven 

 in number, the last being divided to the root into two. The 

 fin of the tail ends in a sharp point, is covered with scales, and 

 contains seventeen distinct rays, with some short ones compact- 

 ed on each side. 



2d Species. — Bola chaptis. Plate X. Fig. 25. 



A bola with ten prickles on the first fin of the back, and one 

 prickle with twenty-five soft rays in the second ; with two 

 prickles and seven soft rays in the fin behind the vent ; with 

 the first branch of the second ray in each ventral fin lengthened 

 in form of a bristle ; and with the lower jaw extending to the 

 extremity of the head. 



This fish has some affinity to the Bodianus stellifer of Bloch, 

 {Ichth. Tome VII. p. 41, PI. CCXXXI. fig. 1 ;) but in that spe- 

 cies the two back fins are not near so well separated as in ours, 

 while it wants the indented edges of the gill- covers, and its 

 head is armed with several spines. Our fish should rather be 

 a Ccntropomus, according to La Cepede, than a Bodianus. It 

 is found in the estuaries of the Ganges, seldom exceeds a foot 

 in length, and is reckoned but poor eating. 



The Chaptis is silver coloured below, while its back is green, 

 with a pui'ple gloss, but without any intermixture of gold. 

 The back and tail fins are dotted and edged with black. On 

 the sides are many lines ascending behind, and consisting of a 

 small elevation on the centre of each scale. 



The head is rather small and narrow. The two jaws are 

 nearly equal in length, and reach to the extremity of the head, 

 extending far backward in a straight horizontal line. In both 

 jaws are some sharp long teeth intermixed with some small 



