1286 Catalogue of Malayan Fishes, [Dec. 



Engraulis (Stolephore commersonien), Cuv. R. A. II. (1817,) 175. ('). 



(1829,) 323. (')• 



Engraulis albus, Swainson II. 293. 



Engraulis commersonianus, Richardson : Report 1845, 308. 



'Descript. of anim. 201, Fig. 149' ? ibid, 305, 309. 



Engraulis fasciata, Cuv. and Val. XXII. 43. 



Engraulis brownii, Cuv. and Val. ibid, 41. 



Engraulis commersonii, Bleeker : Verh. Batav. Gen. XXII. 6. 



Biinga ayer, or Badah of the Malays. 



Head above light greenish grey, a large oval blackish spot occupying 

 the posterior half ; back pale sea-green or greenish grey ; sides and 

 abdomen transparent greenish buff, or grey with reflections of mother-of- 

 pearl ; from the upper third of the gill-opening to the root of the caudal 

 a broad longitudinal silvery band ; cheeks and opercles shining silvery, 

 the latter above dotted with black ; caudal pale yellow, dotted with 

 black, rendering the posterior margin blackish ; rest of the fins hyaline. 

 Iris silvery, orbital margin blackish. 



D 14, 15 or 16, C 19f, A 20 or 21, V 7, P 15 or 16, Br. XI. 



Habit. — Sea and estuaries of Malayan Peninsula and Islands. 



China sea, New Zealand, Madura, Java, Sumatra, Bom- 

 bay, Coromandel, Bay of Bengal, Gangetic estuaries, Isle 

 of France, Australia, New York, Havanah, Jamaica, 

 Vera Cruz, Martinique, Barbadoes, St. Christopher, 

 Rio Janeiro. 



Total length : 6 inch. 



The head is -*- of the total length ; the horizontal diameter of the eye 

 is contained 3^ times in the length of the head ; the distance across the 

 forehead equals one diameter ; the greatest vertical diameter, in front of 

 the dorsal, is ± less than the length of the head. The body is covered by 

 7 longitudinal series of deciduous scales, of which there are from 35 to 38 

 on the third series. On the anterior twelve scales of this series appears 

 the lateral line which consists of a linear central tube, which disappears 

 or becomes indistinct on the rest of the scales. The latter are diaphanous, 

 rhomboidal, with their horizontal diameter ^ of the vertical. The dorsal 

 commences nearly in the middle between the muzzle and the centre of 

 the posterior margin of the caudal ; the anal commences opposite the 

 posterior third of the dorsal. The ventrals are situated in the middle 



