COTTID.E. 235 



Family XXVI. COTTIDJE. 



Platicephalina (subfam.), Swainson. 



Body oblong or subcylindrical. Eyes lateral or partly directed 

 upwards and outwards. Cleft of mouth lateral. Some of the 

 bones of the head armed. Infraorbital bones articulate with the 

 preopercle. Teeth villiform, no canines. Two separate dorsal fins 

 or one fin in two distinct portions, the spinous less developed than 

 the soft or than the anal ; ventrals thoracic, sometimes scarcely 

 developed. Air-bladder generally absent. Pyloric appendages 

 few, or in moderate numbers. 



Geographical Distribution. Almost all seas, a few species living 

 in fresh water. 



Synopsis of Indian Genera. 



Head broad, depressed. No pectoral appendages. 1. PLATYCEPHALUS. 



Head parallelepiped. Three pectoral appendages. 2. TRIGLA. 

 Head parallelopiped. Two pectoral appendages ; 



body covered with bony scale-like plates .... 3. PEKISTETHTS. 



1. Genus PLATYCEPHALUS, Bl. Schn. 

 Ulu parti, Tarn. ; Chorbombil, Marathi. Flat heads or Crocodile Fislies. 



Branchiostegals six or seven; pseudobranchise. Head broad, 

 depressed, and armed with spines. Lower jaw the longer. Eyes 

 lateral or superior. Villiform teeth in the jaws, vomer, and 

 palatines, with larger ones sometimes intermixed. Two dorsal 

 fins, the first having a small isolated spine anterior to it ; the 

 soft portion similar to the anal ; ventrals thoracic ; no pectoral 

 appendage. Scales present, ctenoid, small or rather so. Lateral 

 line complete, in some species armed with spines. Air-bladder 

 absent. Pyloric appendages in moderate numbers. 



These fishes are termed " Crocodile fishes " in Malabar, and 

 wounds from their spines are dreaded because of the violent 

 irritation they occasion. Their eyes are peculiar ; the iris possesses 

 two semicircular flaps, one above, the other below, the upper being 

 usually the larger ; these flaps can be brought close together, pro- 

 bably under the stimulus of light. The comparative width of the 

 head to its length differs in individuals, also with age, becoming 

 broader in the adult. I have captured specimens full of well- 

 developed ova as early as February. These fishes are eaten by the 

 lower classes of natives. 



Geographical Distribution. Coasts of Indo-Pacific Ocean. 



