FAMILY, XII— SCLENTTLE. 197 



posteriorly. Air-vessel — somewhat contracted at its first fourth and having about 34 branching processes on 

 either side. Colours — brownish-red, shot with silvery and white, sometimes glossed with gold in the lower third 

 of the body. First dorsal stained black at its edge, soft dorsal and anal with grayish outer margins : pectoral, 

 ventral, and anal yellow. 



Having sent an air-vessel of this species to Mr. Broughton, the Government chemist, he observed that 

 " it contains about 80 per cent of gelatine, isinglass containing about 90 per cent. It will set a jelly with about 

 26 times its weight of water." 



Habitat. — Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago, attaining 2-i- feet or more in length : it is the commonest 

 form in the Indian seas, especially along the Coromandel coast. It is pretty good for the table. The ova appears 

 to be deposited from about March to July. 



3. Otolithus argenteus, Plate XLV, fig. 3. 



(Kuhl. and v. Hass.) Cuv. and Yal. v, p. 62 ; Richards. Ich. China, p. 225 ; Bleeker, Scisen. p. 15, and 

 Memoire Scienoides, 1874, p. 9 ; Cantor, Catal. p. 61; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 310; Day, Fish. Malabar, p. 58 ; 

 Kner, Novara Fisch. p. 135, t. vi, f. 4 (air-vessel.) 



Bu-ru, Sind. : Golaree, Tel. (at Gopalpore.) 



B. vii, D. 10 | „iro P. 16, V. 1/5, A. f, C. 17, L. 1. !|^ , L. tr. 7-8/21, Ceec. pyl. 6. 



Length of head 3| to 4J-, of caudal 6-1- to 1/7, height of body A\ to 1/5 of the total length. Eyes — 

 diameter 2/9 to 1/4 of length of head, 1 to 1-|- diameters from end of snout, and 1^ apart. Greatest width of 

 head equals from If to 1/2 its length : its height its length excluding the snout. Interorbital space almost flat. 

 Cleft of mouth oblique : lower jaw the longer : the maxilla reaches to below the middle of the eye : the 

 distance between the eye and the maxilla equals half a diameter of the orbit. Vertical limb of preopercle 

 slightly serrated (in the young it is spinate) : its angle and lower edge crenulated : two opercular spines. Free 

 edge of skin across snout entire having an open pore above the vertical from the canine teeth : no open glands 

 on the lower jaw. Edge of shoulder-flap serrated. Teeth — a villiform internal series in the upper jaw, two large 

 pointed canines to the side of the symphysis. A single large central canine in the lower jaw and a lateral row 

 of conical teeth : in some specimens there exists a few villiform teeth external to this row. Fins — dorsal spines 

 increase in length to the third and fourth which equal half the height of the body, and are 1/3 higher than the 

 rays. Pectoral as long as the head excluding the snout. Ventral reaches half way to the anal. Second anal 

 spine weak, rather more (2-|) than one-third the height of the first ray, and 3/4 of the diameter of the orbit : 

 the base of the fin equals 1/5 of that of the soft dorsal. Caudal wedge-shaped. Scales — cycloid, except in the 

 last half of the body in its lower half where they are more or less ctenoid, some over bases of caudal and anal 

 fins. Lateral-line — tubes strongly arborescent posteriorly. Air-vessel— with 25 lateral processes on either side. 

 Colours — silvery, darkest along the back : four dark longitudinal bands along the sides, one being along the lower 

 edge of the dorsal fin, a second at 1/3 the distance between it and the lateral-line, the two others on either side 

 of the lateral-line. A darkish spot on the opercle. Pectoral, ventral, and anal orange, outer edge of dorsal 

 grayish. 



Russell (Fish. Vizag. ii, p. 7, pi. 109) published the figure of what he termed a Sparus ? Called by the 

 natives Pottee kanasah, having D. lO/^r, it he observed attained one foot two inches in length and its breadth was 

 1/4 of its length. Cuv. and Val. (v, p. 64) named the species Otolithus versicolor, and Cantor (Catal. p. 63) 

 considered that he recognised it in a species from Pinang which has D. 10 | -^g, and has been called by Bleeker, 

 Otolithus lateoides (Java, p. 98, Scisen. p. 16, and Mem. Scien. 1874, p. 7.) 



Having searched very many times for this fish on the Coromandel coast and always without any result, 

 it has appeared to me that it may represent 0. argenteus, which is very common at Vizagapatam : but on the other 

 hand there is Cantor's specimen, and Bleeker 's species from the Malay Archipelago, and which may still be found 

 in the Bay of Bengal. It has D. 10 | ^Vef. P- 17, V. 1/5, A. f, C. 17, L. 1. yy>, L. tr. 11/. Length of head 

 1/5, height of body 5 to 5-§- in the total ler gth. Eyes — diameter 4f to 1/6 in the length of head, and 1 to 

 lj- apart, &c. 



Habitat. — The 0. argenteus inhabits the seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and China, attaining 

 upwards of 2\ feet in length. The specimen figured is 8 inches long, and from Orissa. 



