1156 Catalogue of Malayan Fishes. [Nov. 



Gen. Pimelepterus, Lacepede 1802. 

 Body oval, compressed ; dorsal single, its rays, as well as those of 

 the caudal and anal, covered with scales ; the single external series of 

 maxillary teeth trenchant, fixed by means of a horizontal posterior 

 process resembling a talon. 



Pimelepterus oblongior, Cuv. and Val. 



Pimelepterus oblongior, Cuv. and Val. VII. 264. 



Adult ? Head above and back blackish brown ; the scales silvery 

 brownish grey, edged with brown : those above the lateral line with darker 

 brown than those below ; each series of scales longitudinally separated 

 from the succeeding by a lighter or darker ferruginous stripe, impart- 

 ing to the body a striped appearance ; from beneath the eye, over the 

 cheek and opercle a ferruginous stripe ; a second continued or interrupted, 

 from behind the orbit to the point of the opercle ; on the occiput some 

 irregular ferruginous spots. Dorsal and anal spines and membrane 

 pale greyish brown, or neutral tint, minutely dotted with brown ; soft 

 portion of dorsal, anal and the caudal of the ground colour ; their mar- 

 ginal part blackish ; ventrals pale bluish grey, minutely dotted with 

 brown, marginal half blackish ; pectoral rays buff, membrane trans- 

 parent ; the scales of the base and those between the rays like those of 

 the body. Iris silvery near the pupil, the rest bluish black or brown. 



Young. Ground colour of the body paler and with a bluish tint ; 

 lateral stripes paler and fewer. 



D 11/12, 14 or 15, C 17f, A 3/12, 13 or 14, V 1/5, P 18 or 19,Br. VII. 



Habit. — Sea of Pinang, Malayan Peninsula. 



Total length : 7f inch. 



The length of the head is contained less than four times in 

 the total : its height at the occiput equals the length. The eye is 

 situated above the centre of the head, nearer the muzzle than the gill- 

 opening : its horizontal diameter is about J of the length of the head. 

 The greatest vertical diameter of the body slightly exceeds ^ of the 

 total length. The number of external maxillary teeth appears to in- 

 crease with age : the largest individual examined had 30 in each jaw. 

 Their size decreases from the centre towards the angles of the mouth ; 

 the posterior, horizontal process is slightly longer than the anterior 

 trenchant one. Behind the external series is a narrow crescent-shaped 



