FAMILY, XIX— SCOMBRID^E. 257 



Lengtli of head 4f to 5, of caudal 5^ to 6, height of body 7J to 8 in the total length. Eyes — diameter 

 4j to 5 in the length of head, 1\ to 2 diameters from end of snout, and about 2 apart. Mouth wide, the maxilla 

 reaches to below the anterior edge or first third of the eye. Greatest width of head equals its height, or its 

 length excluding the snout. Upper surface of head flat, and stellately rugose. Teeth — villiform. Fins — dorsal 

 free spines with a very short interspinous membrane. Second dorsal highest anteriorly where its rays equal the 

 height of the body, its upper edge slightly concave. Anal similar to second dorsal, but rather lower, it arises on 

 the vertical below the seventh or eighth dorsal ray, its two first rays are short and undivided. Pectoral 1 - 

 longer than ventral, and equalling the length of head without the snout. Caudal with its central rays much the 

 longest in the immature, becoming moderately or deeply lunated in the adult. Colours — olivaceous brown, 

 having a dark band along the back below the base of the dorsal fin and another along the centre of the side. 

 Fins brownish, with dark or black edges. Outer edges of caudal lobes white. 



Habitat. — Seas of India to Japan, also stated to be found in the tropical parts of the Atlantic and along 

 the shores of the United States. The one figured (from Madras) is 13i inches in length. A specimen 4 feet 

 10 inches in length exists in the Madras Museum. March, 1867, I took a female, 30 inches long, full of well 

 developed ova. In February, 1867, I examined the contents of the stomach of one, and found the remains of 

 numerous small fishes. 



Genus, 6 — Echeneis, Artedi* 



Pemoropsis, Bhombochirus, Remilegia, Leptecheneis, Phtheirichthys, Gill. 



Branchiostegals seven or eigM : pseudobranchim. Body elongated, fusiform : head depressed and superiorly 

 furnished with an adhesive organ. Eyes lateral or directed downwards and outwards. Cleft of mouth deep. Villi- 

 form teeth on the jaws, vomer, palatine bones, and generally on the tongue. The first dorsal fin modified, on the summit 

 of the head and occiput, into an adhesive dish; a long second dorsal and anal: no finlets : ventrals thoracic. Scales 

 very small. No heel on the side of the tail. Air-vessel absent. Pyloric appendages in moderate numbers. 



Geographical distribution. — These fishes appear to be inhabitants of nearly all seas. In those of India 

 they are most commonly captured adhering to sharks, and are consequently considered to be parasitic on those 

 animals. Van Beneden (Bull. Ac. Belg. 1870, xxx, pp. 181-185) has however shown that sometimes, at least, 

 they prey upon fishes. 



The shape of the caudal fin in these fishes changes with age, as observed in Elacate. 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 



1. Echeneis neucrates, D. 22-25 | 33-41, A. 32-38. A dark band along the body. Seas of temperate and 

 tropical reigons. 



2. Echeneis remora, D. 17-18 | 22-24, A. 24-25. General brown colour. Seas of temperate and tropical 

 regions. 



3. Echeneis brachyptera, D. 15-16 | 26-32, A. 24-27. Light brown, end of caudal whitish. Seas of India 

 to China, also Madeira, and the coast of North America, and the Brazils. 



4. Echeneis albescens, D. 12-13 | 17-22, A. 19-22. Seas of India, Japan, and the Cape. 



1. Echeneis neucrates, Plate LVII, fig. 1. 



Linn. Syst. i, p. 446; Gmel. Linn. p. 1188; Forsk. p. xvi, No. 7 ; Block, ii, p. 131, t. 171 ; Bl. Sclrn. 

 p. 239 ; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 209, pi. 31 ; Bennett, Life Raffles, p. 692 ; Bleeker, Fish. Madag. p. 98. 



Echeneis naucrates, Lacep. iii, pp. 146, 162, pi. ix, f . 2 ; Cuv. Beg. Anim. ; Cantor, Catal. p. 199 ; Tern, 

 and Schleg. Fauna Japon. p. 270, pi. 120, f. 1; Richards. Ich. China, p. 203; Giinther, Ann. and Mag. Nat. 

 Hist. May, 1860, p. 395, and Catal. ii, p. 384 (see syn.) ; Day. Fish. Malabar, p. 75 ; Kner, Novara Fische, 

 p. 146 ; FJunz. Verh. z. b. Ges. Wien, 1871, p. 446. 



Echeneis neucrates, Russell, Fish. Vizag. i, p. 39, and Ala mottah, pi. 49. 



Echeneis albicauda, Mitchell, Am, Monthly Mag. ii, p. 244. 



Echeneis lunata, Bancroft, Proc. Zool. Soc. i, p. 134, and Zool. Journ. v, p. 411, pi. xviii. 



Echeneis Anstralis, Griffith, in Cuv. An. King. Fishes, p. 504. 



Echeneis vittata, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1839 p. 89, 1850 p. 252, and Trans. Zool. Soc. iii, p. 17 ; Riipp. 

 N. W. Fische, p. 82. 



Echeneis fusca, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 92. 



Putthu-muday, " Catching mouth," Mai. : XJbbay, Tarn. 



B. vii, D. 22-25 | 33-41, P. 20, V. 1/5, A. 32-38, C. 17. 



Length of head 5J to 6, including disk 3| to 4*, of disk 4| to 5, of pectoral 7f to 8, of caudal 8, width 

 between pectorals 10j to llf , height of body 1H to 12i in the total length. ■ Eyes— transversely oval, directed 

 obliquely outwards and downwards, 2| to 3 diameters rn the postorbital length of head, 2 to 3 diameters from 

 end of snout, 3i to 41 apart superiorly, and 3 to 4 inferiorly. The disk or modified first dorsal fin is situated 

 on the summit of the head and occiput, is about 2/5 as wide as long, containing from twenty-one to twenty-five 



* The fishes of this Genns form the sub-family Echenetdina, Cantor, or the Family Echekeoidei, Bleeker. Cantor observes 

 that the Malays consider these fish to be a powerful manure for fruit trees. 



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