PISCES ABDOMINALES. SILURUS. 
51 
Tongue short, blunt, smooth, white, fixed. Palate and throat set with numerous recurve teeth. Eyes distant 
from each other, remarkably small, round, protuberant. Nostrils double, small, oval, near the orbit; besides 
which a small round aperture is found between the roots of the long cirri and the point of the rostrum, on 
each side. 
The branchial opercula two-leaved, semicircular, smooth, the posterior lamina ciliate; the membrane halt 
exposed, the aperture large. 
There are four cirri; one from each side of the rostrum, and two from the lower jaw: the former five inches 
and a half long, the other one inch. 
The trunk. The back almost straight, convex; the sides roundish, compressed ; the breast and abdomen full 
and rounded, but near the anus flatfish; the tail taper, compressed. Branchiae four-leaved, the denticles conical, 
a little curve. Lateral line conspicuous, high, at first straight, then bending a little upwards. The anus distant 
from the tail. 
The Jins. The dorsal solitary, scapular, anterior surface of the first ray scabrous; the pectoral low, broad, 
acuminate above, first ray slightly serrated; ventral small, short; anal very long, nearly equal; the caudal 
divided into two very unequal falcate lobes. 
The colour of the head and back a dark leaden, brighter on the sides; the breast and abdomen a dull white. 
Fins a little lighter than the back. 
Length one foot three inches, but I have seen them three feet long. 
REMARKS. 
None of this genus are brought to European tables, being excessively rank and oily; they are eaten however 
by the natives of the lower class. 
They are chiefly found in lakes or in large tanks. In the neighbourhood of the Ankapilly lake, the weavers 
employ the dried jaw bones of the present species, as an instrument for carding the finest sort of cotton. A figure 
is given of the dried bone. 
No. CLXVI. 
Silurus pinna dorsalis analisque caudali unila ; cirris octo ; cauda cuspidata. 
The Silurus with the dorsal and anal fins united with the caudal, eight cirri; a sharp 
pointed tail. 
Platystacus Anguillaris Bloch. PI. 37 3. 
Called by the Natives Jngeelee. 
1 I 
B. xiv. D. T. D. e. ,4.27 4. P. 10. V. 14. 
The body ensiform, compressed, without scales, lubricous. 
The head large, long, depressed, as broad as the body, smooth. The mouth, under the round, obtuse, pro¬ 
jecting rostrum, horizontal, wide; lips adipose, flabby. Jaws large, rounded, the upper longer than the under. 
Teeth in several rows, in the anterior part of the jaws small, sub-granulous: in the upper jaw very minute. 
Tongue very short, retracted, smooth. Palate wide, with teeth in a triangular phalanx : teeth also in the fauces. 
Eyes small, distant, orbicular. Nostrils single, distant from the orbit, large, linear-oval. 
Branchial opercula one-leaved, rounded, bridled beneath; membrane broad, mostly hid; aperture arched. 
The cirri of equal length, very short, one from each corner of the mouth; one from each nostril, and four 
from the chin. 
