1134 Catalogue of Malayan Fishes. [Nov* 



rior margin of the caudal ; when the slightly upwards directed tubular 

 mouth is protracted, it is \ of the total. The lower margin of the 

 preopercle, particularly the anterior part, is finely yet distinctly toothed. 

 The diameter of the eye is 2\ in the length of the head. The greatest 

 vertical diameter of the body, in front of the dorsal, is a little less than 

 \ of the total length. The second dorsal spine is \ of the greatest 

 vertical diameter of the body. The second anal spine is f of the second 

 dorsal ; the third anal is \ of the second, but much slenderer. The 

 ventrals are very short, their length somewhat less than the diameter of 

 the eye. The branchiostegous membrane appears to have a fifth 

 excessively minute ray. This species is at all seasons very abundant 

 in the Straits of Malacca, and numbers are dried and consumed by the 

 natives. 



Equula longimana, Cantor. 



Head above and back lead coloured, minutely dotted with black 

 along the dorsal fin; rest of the head and body shining silvery, 

 slightly iridescent ; where the opercle and preopercle join above appears 

 a pale blackish spot ; on the anterior part of the side between the 

 commencement of the dorsal and the anterior third of the pectoral, 

 a large rounded bluish black spot ; fins hyaline ; upper half of dorsal 

 membrane, between the third and eighth spine, indistinctly spotted with 

 pale brown. Iris silvery, orbital half black. 



D 10/15, C 17|, A 4/13, V 1/5, P 13, Br. V. 



Habit. — Sea of Malayan Peninsula and Islands. 



Total length : 4-f inch. 



The general form of the fish is elongated oblong, the greatest verti- 

 cal diameter of the body, in front of the dorsal fin, being ^ of the 

 total length, measured to the centre of the posterior margin of the 

 caudal. The length of the head is 3^ in that distance ; when the 

 very little downwards protractile mouth is extended, it is \. The 

 cranial crests are short and less sharp than in the preceding species. 

 No spines appear above the anterior part of the orbit. The diameter 

 of the eye is 2\ in the length of the head. The lips are fleshy, covering 

 a narrow band of minute, recurvous, setaceous teeth, of which there are 

 fewer in the lower than in the upper jaw. The opercle terminates 

 behind in a very obtuse, membranous angle ; it is joined to the sub- 

 opercle by an oblique line ; by a vertical to the preopercle. The latter 



