10/6 Catalogue of Malayan Fishes. [Oct. 



Mugil parmatus, Cantor. 



Young ? Head above and back pale brownish olive ; cheeks and 

 upper half of the sides silvery greenish grey ; lower half of the sides 

 and abdomen silvery white ; on the upper part of preopercle a triangu- 

 lar bluish black spot, behind which an indistinct amber-coloured spot ; 

 the rest of preopercle and opercle pale silvery blue, faintly vermiculated 

 with brown ; dorsal and caudal membranes pale grey, minutely dotted 

 with brown ; the rest of the fins white. Iris silvery grey. 



D 4—1/8, C 14 I, A 3/9, V 1/5, P 14, Br. VI. 



Habit. — Sea of Pinang. 



Total length : 4f inch. 



The length of the head is 4f in the total, or £ of the length of the 

 body, the caudal not included ; the height at the occiput f of the 

 length of the head. The orbit occupies the second fourth of the head ; 

 the eye is covered in front and behind by a crescent-shaped adipose 

 lobe ; the distance of the orbits across the forehead equals 1^ diame- 

 ters. On the anterior margin of the infraorbital bone appears a broad 

 angular incision, which receives the angle of the lips ; the inferior 

 margin is truncated, minutely toothed ; near the upper margin of the 

 infraorbital, below the two small openings of the nostrils, appear two 

 minute pores. The mouth is very small; both jaws have excessively 

 minute setaceous teeth, scarcely projecting beyond the cartilaginous lips. 

 The greatest vertical diameter of the body, in front of the anterior dor- 

 sal spine, equals the length of the head ; that in front of the caudal fin 

 is % of the former. A straight line from the gill-opening to the caudal 

 contains 27 scales, an oblique series 10. The anterior dorsal spine is 

 strong : its length is a little less than J of that of the head ; no elon- 

 gated triangular scale appears at the base of the anterior dorsal, nor of 

 the pectoral. The second dorsal, the caudal and anal fins are half 

 covered with very small scales. The first anal spine is excessively mi- 

 nute. The two central rays of the caudal are but very slightly shorter 

 than the rest. A single individual was observed at Pinang in April 

 1844. 



The present greatly resembles M. grandisquamis, Cuv. and Val. 

 (XL 103), an African species, remarkable for the great size of its scales. 

 The latter differs in the following particulars. The greatest height is 

 nearly | of the total length ; at the occiput the height is § of the 



