AMPHIBIA NANTES SQUALUS. 
11 
No. XVIII. 
Souajlus corpore sub-rotmdo , brevi, vario ; pinna anali; pinna cauda longissima , apice 
rotundata, emarginata. 
The variegated Soualus, with a short, roundish, body; an anal fin; the caudal fin 
extremely long, rounded, and emarginated at the point. 
Called by the Natives Poollee Makum. 
The body oblong, short, somewhat depressed, till near the dorsal fin, where it becomes rounder, without 
diminishing much in thickness, and terminates in a long flatfish tail. The skin when stroked downwards, 
feels like velvet, but harsh when stroked in a different direction. 
The bead broader than the body, depressed above, flat beneath, sides convex. Mouth small, less than an 
inch distant from the edge of the rostrum; lips thickish. The jaws rough like a file. 
Eyes very small, oval; the foramina behind them, also small, kidney-shape. Nostrils close on the edge of 
the rostrum, wide, gaping, with a small cirrus from the posterior, interior, edge. 
The spiracula high, in respect to the pectoral fins, the fourth, on each side, is divided in the middle. 
The Jins. The pectoral large, oblong-ovate; the first dorsal opposite to the ventral, the second opposite to 
the anal; both are oblong and obtuse; the small ventrals are about an inch behind tire pectoral, and about the 
same distance from the anal, the point of which nearly touches the inferior portion of the caudal fin: both 
ventral and anal are in shape similar to the dorsal fins. The caudal is very long, the spinal or upper portion 
thin, narrow, the point rounded, and emarginate; the ventral portion thicker and broader, notched four inches 
from its rise near the anal fin, and a second time near the point. 
The colour of the upper part of the head and back almost black; that of the tail a dusky brown; both 
remarkably variegated, with whitish fasciae, marks, and spots, which look at first sight like an Egyptian 
inscription. They were seldom found to vary in shape, and, being accurately copied from life, are exactly repre¬ 
sented in the figure: as they approach the tail, they grow fainter, The under parts of the fish are of a 
yellowish white. 
The length, from the rostrum to the end of the tail, thirteen inches. 
REMARKS. 
The three last-described species seldom appear at Vizagapatam, and were never found larger than above 
mentioned. 
The present species is the 19th in Gmelin’s edition of Linnaeus, and named Tigrinus; by Bloch it is 
named Fasciata. 
