Pimelodus. gangetic fishes. 187 



greenish ash, very pale below ; and not only on the body, but 

 on the fins, are scattered large irregularly shaped black marks. 

 The eyes are golden-coloured. 



The head is very flat, large, and blunt. It is covered by a 

 rough bone, which terminates behind in three narrow processes, 

 whereof the middle one is the longest, and extends along the 

 back to near the fin, while the two outer ones reach to the be- 

 ginning of the lateral lines. The two tendrils, which separate 

 the apertures of the nostrils, and the four from under the chin 

 are very short ; the two from the corners of the upper jaw are 

 about as long as the head, and have behind a narrow mem- 

 brane, extending to more than their middle. The mouth, placed 

 below and behind the extremity of the nose, is large, and ex- 

 tends straight backward. The under jaw is the shortest, and 

 has a longitudinal ridge on the centre. The lips are fleshy. In 

 each jaw are crowded many teeth of unequal sizes, and some of 

 them large. On the hinder part of the palate are two bones 

 covered with teeth. There is no tongue. Both apertures of each 

 nostril are large ; the foremost, however, being smallest and 

 lowest, and they are separated only by a tendril nearer the jaw 

 than the eye. The eyes are very small, are far up and back, and 

 have a pupil shaped like the ace of hearts. The gill-covers end 

 in a long point, with a sinuosity below it, and consist of one 

 scabrous plate. Each of their membranes contains eleven rays. 

 There is no slit under the throat. 



The back, before the fins, has a very slight declivity to the 

 head. Before the first fin is a small rough bony plate, which 

 sends a short branch along each side. The lateral line is straight, 

 and descends from the shoulder to near the end of the tail, 

 where it divides into two branches. The vent is behind the 

 middle. The tail is a little compressed, and dilated towards the 

 end, where it forms two small lobes. 



