1234 Catalogue of Malayan Fishes, [Nov. 



red singly and at irregular intervals, and varied from two to three 

 inches in length. 



Gen. Panchax, Valenciennes 1846.* 



Maxillary bone thrown behind the descending branch of the inter- 

 maxillary, so that but the lower part contributes to form the angle of 

 the mouth ; muzzle broad depressed ; gill-openings well cleft ; dorsal 

 small, placed far back opposite the anal ; intermaxillaries and lower 

 jaw with a narrow band of minute teeth, of which the external series 

 are longer than the rest and arched round the margin of the jaws, so as 

 to appear like cilia ; a narrow transversal band of minute teeth on the 

 palate (vomer). 



Panchax panchax, (Buchan. Ham.) 



Esox panchax, Buchan. Ham. 211, 380, PI. III. Fig. 69. 



Aplocheilus chrysostigmus, McClelland, As. Res. XIX. II. 301 and 



426, PL XLII. Fig. 2. 



Aplocheilus panchax, McClelland, ibid. 302. 



Panchax buchanani, Cuv. and Val. XVIII. 383. 



Head above, back and upper half of the sides pale silvery green, 

 minutely dotted with black ; lower half of the sides and the abdomen 

 silvery white, in some individuals with orange coloured dots ; on the 

 occiput a small oval silvery white spot ; sides of the head and upper 

 half of opercles silvery green minutely dotted with black, lower half 



* In 1836, Mr. McClelland placed some species of this genus in the family of 

 Cyprinoidce, and formed a Subgenus of Poecilia, Bl. Schn. to receive them, viz. 

 Aplocheilus, (Scr. Haplochilus) — Mr. McClelland characterises the latter as fol- 

 lows : " Intermaxillaries fixed, apices of the jaws flat and directed upwards; five 

 rays in the branchial membrane ; fins transparent ; a short dorsal placed opposite 

 to the last ray of a long anal ; the intestine and stomach form together a small 

 tube scarcely longer than the body ; the eyes placed on the edges of the head ; the 

 mouth directed upwards ; a single row of large teeth inserted along the edges of 

 the lips which are not protractile as in Poecilia ; the caudal entire." (Asiatic 

 Researches, XIX. Pt. II. pp. 301 and 426). Of the preceding eleven characters 

 only four are correct, but they are not sufiicient to characterise the genus, viz. : 

 apices of the jaws flat ; intestinal canal scarcely longer than the body ; eyes on the 

 edges of the head ; caudal entire. The remaining characters are either partly 

 incorrect or entirely so. The characters of Panchax, Valenciennes, although of a 

 later date than Haplochilus, must therefore be adopted. 



