1196 Catalogue of Malayan Fishes. [Nov. 



Platessa russelli. 



(Icon.) Platessa russelli, Gray : 111. Ind. Zool. PI. 94, Fig. 2. 

 Ikan Siblah of the Malays. 



Left side. Pale reddish- or yellowish-brown ; each scale with a ver- 

 tical buff spot close to the dark brown posterior margin ; opercle and 

 anterior third of abdomen pale bluish or neutral tint. Iris silvery, 

 coloured like the body. 



Right side. Buff or dust-coloured ; opercle and anterior third of 

 abdomen pale bluish. Fins transparent, coloured like the body, but 

 paler, minutely dotted with brown ; dorsal, caudal and anal with a few 

 scattered indistinct brownish spots. 



D 70 to 73, C 15f, A 56, V 6, P 12, Br. VII. 



Habit : Sea of Pinang, Malayan Peninsula, Singapore. 



Total length : 1 ft. 1 inch. 



Left side. The length of the head is A\ in the total. The upper 

 orbit occupies the second-fourth of the head, close to the profile of the 

 back without encroaching upon it ; it is oval ; the horizontal diameter, 

 being £ of the length of the head, exceeds by | that of the lower 

 rounded orbit. Both are separated by a very narrow sharp ridge. 

 The vertical distance from the centre of the inferior orbital margin of the 

 lower eye to the margin of the lower jaw is \ of the length of the head. 

 The posterior apertures of both nostrils are situated immediately in 

 front of the orbits ; they are rounded and larger than the anterior ones. 

 Of the latter the upper one appears to be a small puncture about mid- 

 way in front between both orbits. The lower anterior aperture is 

 situated obliquely in front of the posterior, close to the margin of 

 the left upper maxillary. The latter bone is narrow, widened and 

 obliquely truncated at the lower extremity. The angle of the mouth 

 scarcely extends to the anterior part of the orbits. The margin of the 

 mouth is exclusively formed by the elongated intermaxillaries, to which 

 are confined the teeth. The latter are conical, blunt, slightly inwards 

 arched and placed in a single series, of which the anterior four or five 

 of each side are a little larger and more distant than the rest, which 

 are minute and placed closely together. The teeth of the lower jaw 

 are longer, fewer, and all with intervals. The tongue is linear, smooth. 

 The opercles and cheeks are hid by scales. The form of the body is 



