PISCES ABDOMINALES. SILURUS. 
53 
No. CLXVIII. 
Silurus pinna dorsali unica, longissima ; cirris octo. Cauda rotunda. 
The Silurus with a single, very long, dorsal fin ; eight cirri; and a round tail. 
Silurus Anguilla,ris, Linn. S. J\ r . p. 502. 
Called by the Natives Marpoo. 
I 
B. ix. D. 69. P.~9. V. 6. A. 50, C. 18. 
The body oblong, somewhat roundish, without scales, adipose. 
The head large, as broad as the body, depressed, grooved, covered with a roughish skin, through which the 
divisions of the cranium are visible. The rostrum short, rounded at the margin, projecting a little over the 
mouth. The mouth transverse, large; lips thin. The lower jaw shorter than the upper ; both set with several 
rows of small, curve teeth. Tongue short, retracted, smooth, but the palate rough. Eyes small, nostrils 
double, distant from each other, and nearer the rostrum than the orbit. Branchial opercula one-leaved; the 
membrane partly hidden, aperture gular. The cirri eight in number: two larger and shorter than the others, 
from the upper lip; one from each posterior nostril, and four from the lower jaw. 
The trunk rounded about the shoulders, grows more and more compressed towards the tail. The branchiae 
denticulate. Lateral line high, straight, hardly slanting. The anus distant from the tail. 
The Jins. The solitary dorsal rises near the shoulder, is slightly assurgent, and continued to within half an 
inch of the caudal fin; the pectoral armed with a strong serrated spine; the ventral near the anus, shorter than 
the pectoral, acuminate in the middle; the anal shorter than the dorsal, but corresponds in shape; the caudal 
fin distinct, orbicular. 
The colour. The upper part of the head and back nearly black, the sides, under the line, from a dusky 
purplish changes to a dull white, the colour of the abdomen and breast. 
Length of the subject ten inches. 
REMARKS. 
I caught this fish when angling in a tank at Tartoor, and with some surprise recognised an old Aleppo 
acquaintance. I never met with the species at Vizagapatam. 
VOL. II. 
