254 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Colours — the Tipper half of the body with about eight broad, straight, blue lines passing backwards and a little 

 upwards, silvery below the lateral-line, where however there are similar lines but very faint. 



Habitat. — Seas of India to Japan and beyond. The specimen figured (17 inches long) is from Bombay. 



Genus, 4 — Ctbium, Cuv. 



Apodontis and Apolectus, Bennett ; Lepidocybium and Acanthocybium, Gill. 



Seer-fishes. 



Branchiostegals seven : pseudobranchia?. Body someivhat elongated. Cleft of mouth deep. Teeth large and 

 strong in thejaivs : villiform on vomer, palatines, and tongue. Tivo dorsal fins, the first with feeble spines, extending 

 to the commencement of the second, more rays in the second dorsal than spines in the first : seven or more finlets behind 

 the second dorsal and anal fins. Scales, when present, rudimentary. A slight heel on either side of the caudal lobes. 

 Air-vessel present. 



The seer-fishes of India, when of the proper size, are considered as amongst the most delicate for eating 

 of the marine forms. If small, as under a foot in length, they are dry, resembling Trachynotus and Chorinemus : 

 from li to 2-1- feet in length they are at their primest size, above this they become coarse. 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 



1. Cybium Kuhlii, D. 16 | tt-ts"+ v™) A- T? + ^ Head 5-|- to 6, height of body 5 in the total length. 

 Lateral-line with a gradual curve. Sides silvery : first dorsal black. Seas of India. 



2. Cybium interruptum, D. 16 | -15*5-5- + viii-ix, A. -fr -\- viii-ix. Head 5^, height of body 5f in the total 

 length. 28 to 30 teeth in upper, and about 24 in lower jaw. Body with three rows of horizontally elongated 

 blotches : first dorsal nearly black. Seas of India. 



3. Cybium guttatum, D. 16-17 ] ts-ts + viii-x, A. -j-^-j-g- -f- vii-ix. Head 5 to 5-|, height of body 5 in the 

 total length. 10 to 12 teeth in either jaw. Body with three rows of elongated blotches : first dorsal black to 

 the eighth spine, the rest pure white edged with black. Seas of India. 



4. Cybium Commersonii, D. 16-17 | t|-tt + ix-x, A. T f:|-3 -f- ix-x. Head 4 to 5, height of body 5£ to 7 

 in the total length. Lateral-line with a strong bend below twelfth dorsal ray. Undulating vertical spots and 

 lines on the sides. First dorsal black to the end of seventh spine, behind pure white with a black upper edge. 

 Red Sea, seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



5. Cybium lineolatum, D. 16 | ^ -f- ix, A. -j^- -(- x. Head 5, height of body 6-|- in the total length. 

 Several rows of horizontally elongated dark spots along the sides. Seas of India to ? the Malay Archipelago. 



1. Cybium Kuhlii, Plate LVI, fig. 2. 

 Cybium Kuhlii, Cuv. and Val. viii, p. 178. 

 B. vii, D. 16 J xf-I-fr-f viii, P. 29, V. 1/5, A.^ + vii, C. 21. 



Length of head 5|- to 6, of caudal 3f to 4, height of body 5 in the total length. Eyes — diameter 1/5 

 of length of head, 1| diameters from end of snout, and also apart. Greatest width of head equals 1/2, and its 

 height equals 4/5 of its entire length. Maxilla reaches to below the hind edge of the eye. Preopercle 

 emarginate along its vertical border, with the lower limb almost as long as the hind one. Teeth — conical and 

 rather compressed, from 15 to 20 in either jaw, those in the lower much the larger : vomerine patch anteriorly 

 rounded, in a band along the palatines. Fins — first dorsal spines weak, second dorsal anteriorly equals 3/4 of 

 the height of the body below it, there are six unarticulated rays at its commencement hidden in the skin, the 

 anal which commences on a vertical line below its centre is similar to it but not so high. Pectoral as long as 

 the head behind the middle of the eye. Ventrals equal Itt diameters of the eye in length. Caudal with deeply 

 pointed lobes. Lateral-line — containing about 200 plate-like rounded scales, each having a simple tube, is 

 straight until it arrives opposite the end or middle of the base of the second dorsal, where it curves to below 

 the third finlet and then becomes rather wavy, its central keel well-developed. Colours — bluish above becoming 

 silvery on the side and below. After death the sides assume a dark hue and have neither bands or spots. First 

 dorsal black : second dorsal and also anal with dark bases : pectoral with a light outer edge, tips of caudal dark. 



Habitat.Se&s of India. The specimen figured (from Bombay) is 14-|- inches in length, but it attains a 

 much larger size. 



2. Cybium interruptum, Plate LVI, fig. 3. 



Scomber wingeram, Russell, Fish. Vizag. ii, p. 26, pi. 134. 

 Scomber leopardus, Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 591. 



Cybium interruptum, Cuv. and Val. viii, p. 172 ; Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1851, p. 136 ; Giinther, Catal. 

 ii, p. 371. 



Buck-hu, Gwadur. 



B. vii, D. 16 I -iT-Vs- + viri-ix, P. 21, V. 1/5, A. ^ + viii-ix, C. 21. 



Length of head 5-^, of caudal 5, height of body 5f in the total length. Byes — diameter 4| in length of head, 

 \\ diameters from end of snout, and also apart. Greatest width of head equals 2£ in its length, and its height 

 equals its length behind the posterior nostril. Maxilla reaches to below the middle of the eye. Vertical limb 



