Mugil. GANGETIC FISHES. 219 



4th Species. — Mugil cephalus ? 



A Mugil with the body longitudinally striped with black ; 

 with the eyes level ; with no teeth in the jaws, the under of 

 which is the shortest ; and with the edges of the scales undi- 

 vided. 



Dr Russell describes a fish, which he calls Bontah, and consi- 

 ders as the Mugil cephalus of Linnaeus. It is, no doubt, very 

 nearly allied to what I am now describing ; but the edges of 

 its scales are indented, and there is only one prickle in the fin 

 behind its vent. 



The Cephalus, according to La Cepede, (Hist, des Poissons, 

 Tome V. page 384,) and Bloch, (Ichth, Tome XI. page 129, 

 fig. 394,) has small teeth in both jaws ; so that their fish, how- 

 ever similar, must differ from what I am describing. Accord- 

 ing to Bonnaterre, (Tabl. Encyclop. p. 179, PI. LXXI1I. fig. 

 304,) the Cephalus has no teeth, and his fish may therefore be 

 the same with that of the Ganges. None of these three writ- 

 ers mention whether or not the scales, in the fishes described 

 by them, were indented on the edges. In Bloch's figure, the 

 under jaw is represented as longest, but, in his description, the 

 two jaws are stated to be of equal length. Considerable diffi- 

 culties, therefore, still remain concerning the Mugil cephalus. 

 I shall content myself with describing the fish found in the 

 Ganges, and which the natives of Calcutta call Sole bhanggan, 

 the first word being the specific, and the latter the generic 

 term. 



The Sole is common in the Gangetic estuaries, where the 

 water is salt, and, near the sea, is a very rich fine-flavoured 

 fish, from a cubit to two feet in length. It is seldom brought 

 to table in Calcutta, because it is of a good quality only when 

 caught near the sea, and ought to be eaten immediately after 

 it is caught. 



