PISCES ABDOMINALES. ELOPS. 
63 
ELOPS. 
GENERIC CHARACTER. 
Caput lave. Dentium scabrities in maxil- 
larum margine , palato. Membrana bran- 
chiostega radiis xxx.: praterea exterius 
in medio armala dentibus quinque. 
The head smooth. The margin of the 
jaws, and the palate rough with small 
teeth. Thirty rays in the branchial 
membrane : armed in the middle exter¬ 
nally with five teeth. 
No. CLXXIN. 
Elops cauda bilobata; squama lanceolata horizontale ante pinnam caudalem, supra et infra. 
The Elops with a tail unequally divided ; a lanceolate, horizontal scale on each edge of 
the caudal fin. 
Elops saurus Linn. S. j\ r . p. 5 ] S. 
Called by the Natives Jinagow. 
2 2 
B.xxx. D.f%. p, i 7 . V. 14. A. IT. C. 28. 
The head large, ovate, compressed, without scales, splendent; the front gently declivous, with a broad, smooth 
furrow, striated on the edges from the crown to the nose. The mouth wide, a little oblique, or arched, hardly 
any lips. The jaws nearly of equal length, long, extractile; the under carinate; the upper has an oblong, 
rounded, flat process, reverted towards the opercula: both are scabrous externally. Teeth marginal, small, not 
close, except in the forepart of the lower jaw. Tongue lanceolate, above convex, rough, free. Two denti¬ 
culate bones on each side of the palate. Eyes supreme, advanced, large, round, and being covered with the 
transparent skin of the head, look as if enclosed in glass. The nostrils distant from the orbit, double, unequal, 
contiguous, small, oval. Branchial opercula large, rounded, without scales, splendent; great part of the mem¬ 
brane displayed ; the aperture wide, lateral and gular. 
The trunk. The back very gently arched, a little rounded; the breast and abdomen almost straight, plane; 
the sides and tail compressed. The denticules of the anterior branchiae very long. Lateral line bends gently 
from the upper edge of the opercula, but soon becomes middle and straight. The anus behind the middle. 
The fins. The dorsal, nearly in the middle, falcate, consisting of six or seven assurgent rays, and fourteen 
or fifteen declining. The first two or three are spinous, but lie close on each other. The pectoral very low, 
acuminate at top; the ventral opposite to the dorsal, rather shorter than the pectoral, consisting of fourteen 
rays, of which the first is longest; the anal very remote, in shape like the dorsal, but much smaller; the 
caudal fin bifid, the upper lobe longest. At the origin of the caudal fin, on each side, is a large, bony, lan¬ 
ceolate scale. 
The colour. The upper part of the head and back a darkish blue; the abdomen pearl-white. The dorsal 
and caudal fins, somewhat less dark than the back; the pectoral of the same colour, but black at the points; 
the ventral and anal light, with a faint yellowish tinge. 
