1849.] Catalogue of Malayan Fishes. 1 035 



small, both jaws of equal length ; their teeth are curved, flat, widen- 

 ing towards the three cusps, of which the centre one is a little larger 

 than the lateral ones ; the outer series consists of about 18 teeth gradu- 

 ally increasing in length towards the angle of the mouth (Fig. 2 ;) im- 

 mediately behind, and in close contact with the outer, appears a second 

 series of similar teeth ; at a little distance behind these two series are 

 two others also consisting of tricuspid teeth, but much smaller and 

 almost setaceous (Fig. 3 ;) at the angle of the mouth the teeth of all 

 four series coalesce, and have no interval between them. The gill-open- 

 ing is small linear, and the five branchiostegous rays are completely 

 hid in the membrane ; the suprascapular bone is naked. The body is 

 covered with scales of different sizes ; the largest are those of the sides, 

 from immediately beneath the lateral line as far as the pectorals extend, 

 they appear bony and tumid ; the posterior rounded margin carries 

 upwards of 40 minute spines ; their vertical diameter, nearly double 

 the length of the horizontal, is about \ of the diameter of the eye. 

 From the apex of the pectorals the scales gradually decrease in size 

 towards the caudal. The scales above the lateral line and those of the 

 abdomen are much smaller than the rest ; all are placed in irregular 

 series, so that their number cannot be counted. The lateral line is a 

 little below the upper fourth of the side ; it consists of minute single 

 tubes and follows the profile of the back towards the tail, in the mid- 

 dle of which it proceeds straight to the root of the caudal. The an- 

 terior dorsal spine, about \ of the diameter of the eye, is situated at 

 the anterior third of the total length ; it is immoveable, placed hori- 

 zontally, has no membrane and becomes more or less hidden by age ; 

 the second spine is the shortest of all, about \ of the diameter of the 

 eye ; the third is J, the fourth exceeds by \ the diameter of the eye ; 

 the fifth is excessively long, robust and appears to be composed of two 

 parts ; the lower half, when reposing, covers with its grooved posterior 

 margin the sixth spine ; the upper half overlaps the succeeding five 

 spines ; the length of the fifth is f of the greatest vertical diameter of 

 the body, from the root of this spine. The rest of the spines gradu- 

 ally decrease in length towards the tenth, which equals the diameter of 

 the eye ; the eleventh exceeds it by \ and is closely attached to the 

 , anterior dorsal ray. The first four dorsal rays are the longest, of 

 equal length, f of the head ; the rest gradually decrease, the fifteenth, 



