4098 Fishes. 



I have thought it advisable (bearing in mind the rarity of examining 

 specimens fresh) to give a very full description, as taken by myself, 

 immediately after the fish was caught. 



The extreme length is 9^- inches. The head is depressed, much 

 flattened, and very broad. The under jaw 2 inches in width, much 

 shorter than the upper, and curved upwards. The mouth very wide, 

 round, and when opened measuring If inch in diameter. Lips large, 

 fleshy, the edges brown, the folds of the lips quite white, and in the 

 upper jaw very dilatable. A small conical barbule depends from the 

 under jaw. The teeth in the lower jaw are sharp, bent backwards, 

 and placed in two pretty regular rows. The upper jaw is similarly 

 armed, but the rows of teeth are irregularly placed. On the palate 

 there is a prominence, kidney-shaped, and covered with minute teeth. 

 The tongue is very broad, the actual fleshy portion is very small. The 

 eyes are half an inch in diameter, closely approximating, placed nearly 

 on the top of the head, and three quarters of an inch apart, the pupils 

 are black and the irides yellow. The nostrils are placed immediately 

 in front of each eye, and not at the end of the muzzle ; they ap- 

 pear to open backwards, and to be closable at pleasure with loose 

 skin ; the orifices are very small. The anterior part of the body- 

 is large, depressed, and tumid ; its greatest size is at a point If inch 

 from the snout, where it is 5 inches in circumference. The dorsal 

 profile commences to rise immediately in front of the first dorsal, and 

 so abruptly as to give that part of the body an arched appearance ; 

 almost immediately after attaining its highest elevation, it descends 

 gradually to the tail. The body becomes compressed from the first 

 dorsal to the vent, and from the vent to the tail so much as to be in 

 fact almost riband-shaped. The resemblance of this fish to a tadpole 

 strikes the most careless observer ; and seldom have I seen a name 

 more appropriately bestowed. 



The fin-ray formula is as follows : — 



1st D. 3: 2nd D. 62?: P. 23 : V. 6 : A. 59 ? : C. 36? 



The second dorsal, anal, and caudal fins are given on the authority of 

 Pennant, as I could not count their rays : I believe them to be ac- 

 curate, and quote them with the less reluctance, as I find that in the 

 other fin-rays that author is correct. The first dorsal is triangular 

 and very small, and is composed of three rays, the longest of which 

 measures a quarter of an inch, which is double the length of the other 

 two : this fin commences at 3 inches from the snout. The second 

 dorsal commences half an inch behind the first dorsal, and ends 



