248 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Family, XVIII— COR YPH^ENID^, (pt.) Swainson. 



Branchiostegals from five to seven : pseudobranchiae present or absent. Body oblong or elevated and 

 compressed. Gill-openings wide. Eyes lateral. The infraorbital bones do not articulate with preopercle. 

 Teeth in the jaws, present or absent on the palate, none in the sesophagus. One long dorsal fin, without 

 distinct spinous division : ventrals thoracic, (except in PteracKs, when they are jugular). No prominent 

 papilla near the vent. Air-vessel present or absent. Pyloric appendages few or many. Vertebra? exceed 

 10/40. 



SYNOPSIS OP GENERA. 



1. Coryphaena. Dorsal fin commencing on occiput : scales present. 



2. Hene. Dorsal fin commencing on the back : scales absent. 



Genus, 1 — Coryph-Kna, Cuv. and Val. 



Lampugus (immature), Cuv. and Val. Dolphins. 



Branchiostegals seven: psendobranchias absent. Body rather elongated and compressed. Preopercle entire. 

 Teeth in the jaws, on vomer, palatines, and tongue. A single long dorsal fin extending from the occiput nearly to the 

 caudal, but without distinct spines, neither are they apparent in the anal : ventral thoracic and well developed. Scales 

 small, cycloid. Air-vessel absent. Pyloric appendages numerous. 



Geographical distribution. — Seas of temperate and tropical regions. 



Cuvier remarks upon the relative height of the crest on the neck, and suggests the possibility of its being 

 partly due to sex. Gunther considers " that the crest and the anterior part of the dorsal fin become gradually 

 higher with age," Catal. ii, p. 405. 



SYNOPSIS OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



1. Coryphaena hippurus, D. 58-63, A. 25-27. Gray, becoming golden on the sides and beneath, and 

 covered with small blue spots. Seas of tropical and temperate regions. 



1. Coryphaena hippurus, Plate LIU, fig. 6. 



Linn. Syst. p. 446. Bloch, t. 174; Bl. Schn. p. 295; Lacep. iii, pp. 173, 178; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 212, 

 pi. 32, f. 1 ; Cuv. and Val. ix, p. 278, pi. 266 ; Guichen, Explor. Sc. Alger. Poiss. p. 63 ; Lowe, Trans. Zool. 

 Soc. ii, p. 183, iii, p. 6, and Proc. Z. S. 1839, p. 80 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 406 ; Steind. Sitz. Ak. Wiss. 1868, 

 p. 370 ; Klunz. Verh. z. b. Ges. Wien, 1871, p. 446. 



Coryphama clirysurus, Lacep. ii, pi. 18, f. 2 ; Cuv. and Val. ix, p. 309. 



Goryphcena dorado, Cuv. and Val. ix, p. 303 ; Cuv. Reg. An. 111. Poiss. pi. 65, f. 1. 



Goryphosna dolfyn, virgata, and argyrurus, Cuv. and Val. ix, pp. 305, 308, 314. 



Lampugus pelagica and ? immacnlatus, Cuv. and Val. ix, pp. 318, 329 (immature). 



Coryphaena Japonica, Schleg. Fauna Japon. Poiss. p. 120, pi. 64. 



Baclahlan, Tam. : Dolphin. 



B. vii, D. 58-63, P. 21, V. 1/5, A. 25-27, C. 19. 



Length of head h\ to 6, of caudal 4| to 4|, height of body 5| to 6| in the total lengfh. Eyes — diameter 

 1/4 to 1/6 of length of head, 3 diameters from end of snout, and 1| apart. Body elongated and compressed: 

 occipital crest well developed. Cleft of mouth rather oblique, the lower jaw the longer, the maxilla extends to 

 below the middle or last third of the orbit. Opercles and shoulder bones striated but entire. Teeth — in numerous 

 villiform rows in either jaw, with an outer somewhat enlarged one : they are also present on the vomer, palatines, 

 and tongue. Fins — dorsal commences over the posterior edge of the orbit, its first seven or eight rays gradually 

 increase in length, whilst the last in the fin is not quite 1/3 that of the highest, the fin reaches to a short distance 

 anterior to the root of the caudal. Pectoral falcated : the anal commences midway between the anterior margin 

 of the orbit and the base of the caudal fin, it is highest in front, but after the third or fourth rays it becomes 

 parallel with the abdomen : caudal with deeply pointed lobes. Lateral-line — curved to opposite the end of the 

 pectoral from whence it goes straight to the centre of the caudal. Colours — back grayish, shot with gold : 

 abdomen golden, covered with blue spots, which become black after death : dorsal fin light blue at the base, 

 becoming black towards the summit. 



February 22nd, 1867, I found in the stomach of one of these fishes a Clupea Neohowii and the anterior 

 half of an Flops machnata. 



Habitat. — Seas of India, Malay Archipelago, &c. ; the one figured (34 inches long) is from Madras : it 

 attains 5 feet or more in length. These dolphins are not uncommon in Madras, and are eaten by the natives. 



