436 TELEOSTEI. ANACANTHINI. 



nearly white beneath. Vertical fins a little darker than, the body, 

 edged with black, and having a narrow red margin. 



Nab. Colonel Tickell procured a specimen 4-9 inches long at 

 Saddle Island off Kyoukhpyoo, Arracan, in 1862 the depth of its 

 body is not so great as shown in SchlegePs figure. Jerdon procured 

 one off Madras 8 inches long, the depth of body was only ^- of 

 total length. 



2. G-enus FIERASFER, Cuvier. 



Syn. Echiodon, Thompson ; Diaphasia, Lowe; Oxybeles, Richardson; 

 Porobronchus (young), Kaup. 



Branchiostegals seven; pseudobranchiae absent. Body termi- 

 nating in a long and tapering tail. Gills four ; gill-membranes 

 united beneath the throat, but not attached to the isthmus. The 

 upper jaw overlapping the lower. No b'arbels. Cardiform teeth 

 in the jaws, vomer, and palatines ; canines sometimes present. 

 Vertical fins continuous ; ventrals absent. Vent under the, throat. 

 Scales, if present, minute. Air-bladder present. Pyloric appen- 



These fishes are "commensals" or "free messmates" and 

 inhabit the digestive cavity of Holothuria or inside the arbores- 

 cent respiratory processes that open at the posterior extremity of 

 its body. 



Geographical Distribution. Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indo- 

 Pacific. 



1313. (l.) Fierasfer homei. (Fig. 153.) 



Oxybeles homei, Richardson, Toy. Erebus $ Terra)-, Fish. p. 74, pi. xliv, 



iip3. 7 18. 

 Fierasfer homei, Gunther, Catal. iv, p. 382 ; Day, Fish. India, Suppl. 



p. 805. 



Length of head 7, height of body 12 in the total length. Eyes 

 diameter 4 in length of head, | diam. from end of snout, and 1 

 apart. Teeth a rather widely-set, recurved row in upper jaw 

 and a caniniform one near the middle, an outer row of small 

 teeth ; two rows in lower jaw, the outer the larger and somewhat 

 curved, the largest teeth near symphysis ; 2 or 3 rows on pala- 

 tines ; two large teeth placed one before the other on the vomer 



Fig. 153. Fierasfer homei. 



and surrounded by smaller ones. Scales absent, fins vertical 

 enveloped in skin. Colour yellowish red, a silvery band from the 



