THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 
101 
Lateral line—In a regular curve to opposite the last ray of dorsal, from whence it proceeds 
direct. 
Colours—Very similar to the last, hut rather more golden, and without the purple tinge, 
whilst the bauds are neither so wide nor so well marked. 
Habitat—Red Sea, Seas of Malabar, and China. 
Genus PLATA X, Cuvier. 
Branchiostegals, six: pseudobranchiae. Body compressed and elevated. Eyes lateral. Cleft of 
mouth rather small: snout short. Infraorbital bones do not articulate with the preopercle. One dorsal, 
with from three to seven spines: anal with three : ventrals well developed. Teeth setiform, with an external 
larger series, trilobed at their summits: villiform on vomer. Scales of moderate size or small, extended on 
to the vertical fins. Lateral line continuous, simple. Air bladder simple. 
Platax teira. 
Ciletodon teira, Forsh. p. 60, no. 82, t. 22. 
Platax teira, Cuv. & Val. vii. p. 226 ; Cantor , Catal. p. 168 ; Gunther , Catal. ii. p. 492. 
B.vi. D. 3 i^. P.16. V.l A. ^ 3?2 7 - 0.17. L.r. 86. 
Length of head nearly L of pectoral §, of caudal of base of dorsal j,, of base of anal of 
total length. Height of head nearly L of body •§, of hard dorsal l, of soft dorsal more than of 
anal more than of ventral of total length. 
Eyes—Diameter j length of head, 1 diameter from end of snout, 1 diameter apart. 
Body elliptical, and strongly compressed : profile rising abruptly to dorsal, from whence it 
rapidly sinks. 
Mouth broad, snout obtuse, posterior extremity of maxilla extends to under the anterior 
margin of orbit: preorbital large, with three or four ridges: preopercle twice as high as wide, 
angle rounded, opercle ending in a soft point. 
Teeth—Villiform in both jaws, the inner row being slightly larger than the external. A 
small spot covered by sharp villiform teeth on the vomer. 
Fins—Pectoral arises hi the lower third of body, opposite the lower margin of the pre¬ 
opercle. Dorsal commences over the opercle, and opposite the ventral: the anal opposite the 
nineteenth dorsal ray. Only a very short portion of the tail Unless. Of the spines of the dorsal 
the first is short, but they rapidly increase, the fourth not being half the length of the fifth; the 
first ray is very long and the last very short ; the dorsal and anal fins are of the same shape, 
whilst the caudal is cut square at its extremity. The ventral is shorter in the adult than in young 
specimens. 
Scales—Small, on body, opercles, cheeks and summit of head. 
Lateral line—First curves upwards, but opposite the dorsal begins to bend downwards, and 
opposite its last rays passes straight towards the caudal, but ceases a short distance before reaching 
its base. 
Colours—Brown with dark bands, one of which passes through the eye, a second from the 
hard dorsal to behind the ventral, and a third from the centre of the dorsal to the anal, whilst 
