38 
PISCES JUGULARES. CALLIONYMUS. 
a small protuberance at the point, adapted to a cavity for its reception in the upper. Teeth setaceous, numerous. 
Tongue short, awl-form, white ; eyes in deep orbits, small, orbicular. Nostrils double, in the middle between 
the orbit and rostrum. 
Opercula consists of two laminae, sub-membranous, with four prickles on the edge of the second. The 
branchial membrane half exposed, the aperture arched. 
The trunk. The back, gradually assurgent from the vertex, forms a hump in the middle-, on the declivity of 
which, towards the tail, is situated the dorsal fin ; the sides much compressed, the belly carinate, the breast 
prickly. 
Branchiae four-leaved, the exterior pectinate on the inside, with very long teeth. Lateral line very slightly 
curve, high, smooth, faint. The anus near the breast. 
They5«i. On the ridge of the back before the dorsal, there are seven small prickles, equidistant from each 
other, unconnected, three pointing forward, three backward, the seventh, and anterior, is the longest, appearing 
like a crest, in the shape of the elephant’s trunk. It is covered with a black coloured skin, above which appears 
its curve point, but the direction of the crest is forward. On the concave side, it is connected by a very loose 
membrane. Lower towards the rostrum are two other prickles, erect and very minute. 
The dorsal fin has one spinous ray, the next ramous, is an inch long, the last ray four lines; the pectoral 
middle, lanceolate, short; the ventral rays resemble fingers, they cover the anus, and are placed a little more 
forward than the pectoral fins. The long anal fin mounts towards the tail in an arch, but the rays are nearly 
equal; the caudal forked, the lobes sub-falcate. 
The colour of this fish, when alive, is changeable, faint red, blue, and green, on a golden ground ; that is, on 
the upper part of the head and back ; the rest a glossy white. All the fins are whitish, but powdered with 
minute dark points, as are also the shoulders. 
The subject described, was five inches in length, and I did not meet with any larger. 
REMARKS. 
This fish, though the position of its ventral fins is scarcely more forward than the pectoral, and their rays 
five in number, has been placed here ; but under strong doubt of its belonging to the genus. The hump on 
the back, raised a suspicion of its being allied to the new genus Kurtus,* of which only one species (sent from 
the Coromandel coast, by the late Dr. Koenig) is hitherto known. But there are strong objections to such a 
conjecture. 
* Bloch, PI. 169. 
