FAMILY, XX— URANOSCOPHLE. 261 



vertical black band covering its middle third : anal white with a black base : pectoral dark, its lower margin 

 edged with white. 



Habitat. — Seas of India, said to attain a foot in length : the largest I captured at Madras is 1\ inches, the 

 one figured (life-size) is from the same locality. 



Genus, 2 — Ichthtscopus, Swainson. 



TJranoscopus, sp., Cuv. and Val. : Anema, Giinther. 



Branchiostegals six : pseudobranchice. Body somewhat cylindrical. Head large, hroad, and partly covered, 

 with tony plates. Gill-openings without any superior orifice. Eyes on the upper surface of the head,. Cleft of mouth 

 vertical. Some of the bones of the head, may be armed. No filament below or before the tongue. Villiform teeth on 

 upper jaw, vomer, and palatines, in a single conical row in the lower jaw. One continuous dorsal fin with less spines 

 than branched rays, the latter portion similar to the anal : ventrals jugular. Scales rudimentary. Air-vessel absent. 

 Pyloric appendages in moderate numbers. 



SYNOPSIS OP INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



1. Ichthyscopus inermis, D. rl-TTi &■• 16-19. Canary-yellow, with buffy markings along the back and 

 sides, enclosing pure white round or oval spots. Seas of India to Japan. 



1. Ichthyscopus inermis, Plate LV, fig. 5. 



Vranoscopus le Beck, Bloch, Syst. p. 47. 



Uranoscopus inermis, Cuv. and Val. iii, p.. 310, pi. 65 ; Temm. and Schleg. Fauna Japou. Poissons, p. 27, 

 pi. 10 A; Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1851, p. 142; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 230; Day, Fish. Malabar, p. 46. 

 Ichthyscopus inermis, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 269. 

 Nillum koranjan, " A diver into the mud," Tam. 



B. vii, D. 8 | rfc-h-, P. 18, V. 1/5, A. 16-19, C. 11, Csec. pyl. 9 (8). 



Length of head 3 to 3j, of caudal 5|, height of body 4 to 4J in the total length. Eyes — situated 

 considerably before the middle of the length of the head and on its upper surface. Greatest width of head 

 equals 3/4 of its length, and its height 5/6 of the same extent. Cleft of mouth nearly vertical : lips covered 

 with numerous branched papilla?. Anterior nostril round, situated in front of the centre of the eye and 

 surrounded with papilla? resembling those on the lips, similar ones likewise surround the large oval posterior 

 nostril which is situated along the inner side of the orbit. No spines on the head or shoulder : the posterior 

 edge of the occiput straight and entire : posterior edge of opercle fringed. An elongated angular flap edged 

 with papillee behind the shoulder. Teeth — in villiform rows in the upper jaw; in a single row of widely 

 separated conical ones in the lower jaw, and sometimes a few villiform ones posteriorly above the symphysis : 

 v illif orm on vomer and palatines. Fins — dorsal spines weak, and not so high as the rays. Pectoral 4f and 

 ventral o\ in the total length. Caudal slightly rounded. Scales — present on the body, except above the lateral- 

 line, on the breast, chest, and to about the sixth anal ray, they are not imbricated but covered by the skin, 

 and are laid in rows, each being bounded by a muciferous channel. Lateral-line — goes from the shoulder to the 

 base of third dorsal spine, and is continued close to the base of that fin in its whole length. Colours — canary- 

 yellow, with buffy-brown markings along the sides, enclosing pure white round or oval spots, also some of the 

 same white colour on the pectoral and dorsal fins. Upper surface of the head brownish : caudal brownish- 

 yellow with dark extremities, a dark bar across the pectoral and caudal fins. 



On March 23rd, 1868, a fine male specimen was brought to me alive, and placed in water having a bed of 

 mud, into which it rapidly worked itself, first depressing one side and then the other, until only the top of its 

 head and mouth remained above the mud, whilst a constant current was kept through its gills. If lifted out of 

 the water, it squirted fluid from its mouth for some distance ; whilst in the mud it looked like a frog. It made 

 a curious noise, half snapping and half croaking, when removed from its native element. 



Habitat. — Seas of India to Japan, said to live in the mud and be taken with difficulty. The specimen 

 figured (about 12 inches in length) is from Canara. 



