50 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



9. Ambassis gymnocephalus. D. 7/-g-_Vo) A. -g-Vo! L. 1. 27-29. Double lower edge of preopercle serrated : 

 interopercle entire : preorbital serrated : two rows of scales on suborbitals. Lateral-line interrupted. Silvery, 

 with, a burnished lateral band. Seas of India, ascending estuaries and rivers. 



10. Ambassis urotcenia. D. 7/V-toj -A- 9'-Vo"> -L. 1. 27-28. Double lower edge of preopercle serrated : 

 interopercle entire : preorbital serrated : one row of scales on the suborbitals. Lateral-line entire. Silvery, with 

 a burnished lateral band. Seychelles, Andamans, to the Malay Archipelago. 



Amongst the preceding 10 Indian species, the interopercle is serrated in A. Thomassi, L. 1. 35-41 ; A. 

 nalua, L. 1. 27-28 ; A. interrupta, L. 1. 28 and an interrupted lateral-line, and A. Dayi, L. 1.-30. The six which 

 have the interopercle entire are, A. nama with curved canines : A. ranga, L. 1. 60-70 : A. baculis, L. 1. 80 : A. 

 Commersonii, L. 1. 30-33 : A. gymnoceplialus, L. 1. 27-29, and an interrupted lateral-line, and A. urotcenia, L. 1. 28. 



1. Ambassis nama, Plate XIV, fig. 5. 



Ghanda nama, Ham. Buch. Fish. Ganges, pp. 109, 371, pi. 39, f. 37. 

 Ghanda phula et bogoda, Ham. Buch. 1. c. pp. Ill, 371. 



Ambassis nama, phula et bogoda, Cuv. and Val. ii, pp. 185, 186, 187 ; Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869, p. 298. 

 Ambassis oblonga, Cuv. and Val. ii, p. 185 ; Gunther, Catal. i, p. 228. 

 ? Ambassis Indica, McClell. Cal. Journ. Nat. Hist, ii, p. 585. 

 Bogoda nama, Bleeker, Beng. en Hind. p. 89. 

 Ambassis bogoda, Gunther, Catal. i, p. 228. 



Mucknee and Ghed-du-ah, Punj. : Son-dah, Assam. : Pud-da and Pid-to-lah, Sind. : Ak-ku-rati, Tel. : 

 Buck-ra and Pom-pi-ah, N. W. Prov. : Gart-kana and Goa-chappi, Ooriah. 



B. vi, D. 7 | ^Irr, P. 13, V. 1/5, A. „*_ C. 17. 



Length of head 1/4 to 2/9, of caudal 1/4 to 2/9, height of body from 4/11 to 1/3 of the total length. 

 Eyes — diameter about 1/3 of length of head, 2/3 to 3/4 of a diameter from end of snout, and also apart. Body 

 compressed, the dorsal and abdominal profiles equally convex, a considerable rise from the occiput to the base of 

 the first dorsal fin. Lower jaw much longer than the upper. The maxilla reaches to below the anterior third 

 of the orbit. Preorbital with three denticulations along its posterior-superior margin : also a denticulation 

 behind them at the middle of the front edge of the orbit, and another at its posterior-superior angle. Vertical 

 limb of preopercle entire, except near its angle, where there are two or three denticulations which become 

 blunted with age : the double border, very slightly denticulated at its lower edge in the young, often entire. 

 Sub- and inter-opercles entire. Teeth — two or three large and crooked canines directed forwards on either side 

 of the symphysis of the lower jaw : an outer and an inner enlarged row in both jaws : fine ones on the vomer 

 and palatines. Fins — dorsal spines of moderate strength, a recumbent one anterior to the fin, the second spine 

 the longest (in a few specimens the third) and equal in length to the head behind the anterior edge or middle of 

 the eye, or to about half the height of the body below it, the seventh dorsal spine somewhat longer than the sixth : 

 the spine of the second dorsal as long as the first ray, the rays gradually decrease in height : ventral reaches a 

 little beyond the anus but not so far as the anal fin : the third anal spine the longest and strongest equalling the 

 height of the longest in the dorsal fin : caudal deeply forked, the lobes of equal length. Scales — minute, 

 scarcely visible on the head ; in young specimens captured from stagnant pieces of water, the mucous often causes . 

 the scales to be overlooked. Lateral-line — is always indistinct, in some specimens it is entire, in others it ceases 

 after proceeding a short way, or it may even be absent. Pseudobranchiai — well developed. Colours — yellowish- 

 olive covered all over with minute black dots which on the shoulder are collected into an oblong patch, having 

 its longest diameter vertical : summit of the head and top of the eyes black. Fins orange, the upper half of the 

 first dorsal deep black : a dark tipper edge to the second dorsal : caudal dark with a light outer margin : anal 

 with a black mark over the bases of the spines. In some specimens taken at Hurdah, in Bombay, the caudal 

 was black tipped. 



This fish shows considerable local variations, which have caused its being described under more than one 

 name. Buchanan observed of the phula, that it is " devoid of scales," " strongly resembles the nama, but 

 seldom exceeds two inches;" " nor indeed, except in the number of the rays which support the fins, is there any 

 considerable difference between the two species." In nama, D. 7/-jV, A. ^ : in phula, D. 7/^-, A. -fy,, are the 

 numbers he records. 



As regards the bogoda, he observes it has 16 soft rays in the dorsal and 17 in the anal fin, and " a long 

 transparent body devoid of scales," " but that it differs in nothing remarkable from the two former {nama 

 and phula) except in the number of soft rays contained in the back and vent fins, and in that contained in the 

 pectorals, each of which has twelve." 



Amongst Buchanan's MSS. drawings in Calcutta, is one l^ inches long, termed Centropomus- 

 plmlchanda, which his notes show to be the phula, and a second 2^ inches long of the bogoda. 



Having brought together upwards of thirty specimens from different localities of India and Burma, I find 

 that this species is subject to variation, but some points remain the same in all. Although the comparative 

 length of the longest dorsal spine varies, it retains its proportion to the third of the anal, which appears to be 

 invariably the longest in that fin : the last dorsal and anal rays are divided to their bases, (counting each as 1) 

 and the following numbers exist in my specimens, D. 7 '/ts-tV-tg-ttj -^- tt-Ts-A-ttj certainly the most co mm on is 

 D. 7/ T V, A. -^ : but of course if we count the last dorsal and anal rays divided to their bases as two, which 



