Pimelodus. gangetic fishes. 177 



a slight ridge above each eye. The mouth, extending straight 

 back, is small, and beneath and behind the extremity of the 

 nose. The eyes are high, and of moderate size. Both open- 

 ings of each nostril are circular, with a tendril between them. 

 The membrane of each gill-cover contains six rays. Under the 

 lower jaw there is no slit. 



The back slopes considerably from the first fin to the end of 

 the nose, and forms a sharpish ridge, covered with a narrow 

 bone, which is divided behind, to surround the first ray of the 

 fin. The shoulder-bones are naked, and the lateral lines straight. 

 The vent is near the middle, and the belly is a little prominent, 

 and convex across. 



The foremost dorsal fin slopes much backward. The first of 

 its rays is a very short bone ; and the second is a strong prickle, 

 with smooth edgzs. The second fin is much shorter than the 

 fin behind the vent, and somewhat rounded. The pectoral fins 

 are shorter than the head, low, and sharp above : each, besides 

 soft rays, has a strong prickle, indented behind. The ventral fins 

 are still smaller than the pectorals, and each contains six rays. 

 The fin behind the vent slopes backward, and contains fourteen 

 rays, of which the three foremost are undivided. The tail fin 

 is divided into two equal sharp lobes. 



14th Species. — Pimelodus urua. 



A Pimelodus with eight tendrils longer than the head ; with 

 the tail fin bifid ; with a diaphanous body dotted above ; and 

 with forty-three rays in the fin behind the vent, and five in the 

 foremost on the back. 



This is a little fish, very similar to that last described, and it 

 seems to have some affinity to the Pimelodus atherinoides of La 

 Cepede, (Hist, des Poissons, Tome V. p. 96.) I found it in. 

 the rivers and ponds of the northern parts of Bengal. It grows 



z 



