1849.] Catalogue of Malayan Fishes. 1235 



white ; lower jaw and the throat immediately behind minutely dotted 

 with black, so as to appear like two narrow arched black lines ; rest of 

 the throat yellow or white; dorsal hyaline or orange with a large 

 rounded black spot occupying the basal half ; in some individuals a 

 small white spot in front of the dorsal, in others the upper margin 

 black ; caudal greenish grey minutely dotted with black, upper and 

 lower margin orange edged with black ; anal hyaline edged and spotted 

 with orange ; ventrals and pectorals yellow. Iris reddish silvery with 

 a blackish ring. 



D 9, C 15f, A 17, V 6, P 15, Pr. VI. 



Habit. — Fresh water Pinang. 



Bengal. 



Total length : 2\ inch. 



The length of the head is \ of the total ; the depth at occiput is \ of 

 the length of the head. The horizontal diameter of the eye is a little 

 less than £ of the head ; the distance across the forehead equals two 

 diameters. The nostrils open laterally by two minute apertures placed 

 above each other in front of the anterior orbital margin. There are no 

 lips. The intermaxillaries are very protractile, and are slightly move- 

 able up and down like a lid. Both the external and the internal 

 series of the teeth of the jaws, are a little longer and more distant than 

 the rest of the teeth. Behind the intermaxillaries appears a small 

 crescent-shaped membrane. Behind the latter are some excessively 

 minute teeth placed on a narrow band, which crosses the vomer and 

 forms an arch parallel with the intermaxillary teeth. The tongue is 

 small, fleshy, and as well as the cavity of the mouth dotted with black. 

 The body is covered by 7 longitudinal series of proportionally large 

 scales, with concentric lines and about 13 radical rays. There are 

 about 30 scales in a series between the gill-opening and the caudal. 

 No lateral line is visible, but on each of the anterior 6 to 8 scales of 

 the third series, appears a central impression as if pricked with a needle. 

 The dorsal commences opposite the posterior third of the anal. The 

 ventrals have no filament. It is numerous at Pinang in ponds, paddy 

 fields and ditches. The stomach and intestines form a continued tube, 

 in length scarcely £ of the total. The peritoneum is silvery, dotted 

 with black. The number of fin rays given by Buchanan and Mr. 

 McClelland are incorrect. 



