1072 Catalogue of Malayan Fishes. [Oct. 



caudal membrane and rays like the dorsal ; anal spines carmine, 

 their membrane and rays whitish, each ray terminating in a short 

 silvery filament ; ventral spine, membrane and four rays whitish, the 

 anterior elongated ray carmine ; pectoral pale carmine at the root, 

 the rest white transparent. Iris narrow golden round the pupil, lower 

 half sky-blue, upper half above the black bar golden brown. 



T6/9, f 10/34, 



D^gci6f,A^; 3 2 g;Vl/5,P9,B,V. 



1 7/10, L 14/28, 



Habit. — Fresh water, Pinang, Malayan Peninsula. 

 Moluccas, Madura, Java. 



Total length : 4f inch. 



Like all the species of this family, the present is liable to consider- 

 able individual variations of colours, number of fin rays and proportions. 

 Thus M. M. Cuvier and Valenciennes count : 



D 5/8, C 16, A 11/35 or 36, V 5, P 14, Br. IV. 

 and ask with doubt if the species be different which Bloch characterises : 



D 7/7, C 16, A 11/33, V 3, P 10, Br. IV. 



With regard to the number of branchiostegous rays, it is five on 

 each side; the superior is the longest and broadest, the rest gra- 

 dually decrease in length and breadth. They are difficult to count 

 as the second is completely hid under the first, and the fourth and 

 fifth are very thin, setaceous, and may thus easily be mistaken for a 

 single one. The ventral spine is very short, and thick, but so firmly 

 adhering to the root of the first elongated ray, that it easily escapes 

 observation. The short, gradually decreasing 2d, 3d, 4th, and 5th ray 

 are divided, but the latter is frequently undivided. The length of the 

 head varies in individuals of equal length from 3^ to 3| in that the body, 

 the caudal fin not included. The latter is a little shorter than the head, 

 the vertical diameter of which, at the occiput, equals the length. The 

 diameter of the eyes is 3|- times in the length of the head ; their dis- 

 tance across the forehead is \\ diameter. The anterior smaller opening 

 of the nostrils has a short membranous tube. The mouth is small and 

 rendered more so as the lower jaw forms a much smaller half circle 

 than the upper. Both have a narrow band of velvety teeth. The 

 tongue is small, fleshy, and its margin completely adhering to the 

 floor of the mouth. The greatest vertical diameter of the body at the 

 fourth dorsal spine varies from 2^ to 2\ in the length of the body, the 



