CAEANGID.J!. 185 



dorsal highest anteriorly, the upper margin rather concave. Scales 

 small and cycloid. Lateral line nearly straight. Colour 

 generally leaden, dorsal and anal fins black. Pectoral yellow. 

 Caudal with a yellowish tinge. 



Hub. Seas of India and Malay Archipelago. Not uncommon at 

 Madras, but the largest specimen I obtained (October 1867) was 

 4| inches in length. 



951. (2.) Psenes indicus. 



Cubiceps indicus, Day, P. Z. S. 1870, p. 690. 



Psenes indicus, Day, Fish, India, p. 237, pi. liv, fig. 2 (see synon.). 



D. 10 | 1/14-15. P. 23. V. 1/5. A. 3/15. C. 18. L. 1. 41-43. 



Length of head 3 to 3|, height of body 2f to 2| in the total 

 length. Eyes diameter 2| to 3 in length of head, g to | diam. 

 from end of snout, and about 1 apart. Abdominal profile rather 

 more convex than dorsal ; snout short. Lower jaw the longer ; 

 preopercle entire ; opercle ending in a rounded point and spineless. 

 Fins dorsal spines feeble, from the second to the fifth subequal in 

 length, g higher than the soft dorsal fin. Pectoral as long as the 

 head excluding the snout. Ventral reaches above halfway to the 

 anal, the spines of which last are low. Caudal deeply forked. 

 Scales very deciduous ; some extend on to soft dorsal, anal, and 

 caudal fins. Lateral line on a row of plate-like scales, the tubes 

 branched posteriorly. Colour silvery, with a purplish gloss. 

 Spinous dorsal rather dark in its upper part. 



Hob. Madras, where several specimens were captured in the 

 sea (up to 4| inches in length) during the month of October. 



11. Genus EQUULA, Cuv. & Val. 

 Syn. Leiognattais, Lace"p. 



Branchiostegals five or six; pseudobranchiae. Body oblong, 

 or elevated and strongly compressed. Mouth very protractile. 

 Lower edge of preopercle serrated. Minute teeth of equal size in 

 the jaws, sometimes in a single row ; palate edentulous. A single 

 dorsal fin, having fewer spines than rays ; anal with 3 spines con- 

 tinuous with the soft portion, which has fewer rays than the soft 

 dorsal; no finlets; ventrals thoracic. Scales small, cycloid, and 

 sometimes deciduous. Lateral line unarmed, usually complete, 

 but in some species ceasing beneath the middle or end of the dorsal 

 fin. Air-bladder terminating anteriorly in two horns. Pyloric 

 appendages few. 



The species included in this genus are very similar to each 

 other. 



Geographical Distribution. Indian and Pacific Oceans. 



Uses. These small fish are extensively sun-dried in India. 



