1849.] Catalogue of Malayan Fishes. 1179 



broad vermilion margins ; caudal and anal black with vermilion mar- 

 gins ; anal rays with similar spots ; pectorals transparent ; near the 

 root, between the 8th and 16th ray, a large rounded black spot, above 

 and below which a smaller vermilion spot, and a few others at the root 

 of this and the ventral fins. Iris blackish golden. 

 D 6—1/8, C 171, A 1/8, V 1/5, P 18, Br. VI.* 

 Habit. — Sea and estuaries of Pinang. 



Estuaries of Bengal, Batavia, Samarang, Surabaya, Pasu- 



ruan, West Coast of Madura. 

 Total length : 6 inch. 



It is readily recognised by the much depressed elongated head, the 

 length of which is contained 3^- times in the total ; the greatest verti- 

 cal diameter of the body slightly exceeds i of the total length. The 

 opercle is a little pointed above the root of the pectorals, which, how- 

 ever, is less perceptible in the young than in the adult. Although 

 Buchanan Hamilton points out the strong affinity of this species to the 

 Gen. GobiomoruSy Lacepede, he was led to consider it a Cheilo- 

 dipterus. His specimen from the Ganges, figured in his unpublish- 

 ed drawings, and later by Mr. Gray, was destitute of the vermilion 

 spots of the body, which vanish in individuals inhabiting muddy 

 estuaries. These spots as also the scarlet margins of the fins, be- 

 come obliterated after death, when the black spot of the pectoral 

 fins appears surrounded by two smaller yellowish-white ones, as de- 

 scribed by M. Valenciennes. (Hist. Nat. des Poiss. XII. p. 186.) It 

 is not numerous at Pinang. 



Eleotris caperatus, Cantor. 



Ground-colours, the vermilion spots of the body and the margins 

 of the fins, the black spots at the root of the pectorals exactly resem- 

 bling those of Eleotris butis. 



D 6—1/8, C 16£, A 1/8, V 1/5, P 21, Br. VI. 



Habit. — Sea of Pinang. 



Total length : 3f inch. 



The crown of the head is apparently scaleless as far as the posterior 



margin of the orbit ; it is depressed, but less elongated than E. butis, 



its length being contained 4| times in the total ; the opercles expansible 



and cleft as in E. butis. The muzzle is rounded, the gape nearly ver- 



* Buchanan Hamilton gives by mistake 7 brancbiostegous rays. 



