THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 
103 
Colours—Back bluish silver, abdomen whitish silver, the whole being glossed over with a 
slightly golden tint. Three or four horizontal lines of black spots, with bronze reflections, form 
from eight to ten vertical bands descending along the upper half of the body. The upper surface 
of the head, cheeks, and lower jaw, all of burnished silver. Dorsal tipped with black : ventral 
white. Pectoral light yellow. Caudal yellowish, and stained at the end with brown. 
This is an exceedingly common fish in Malabar, and quantities of it, along with other species 
of the same genus, are kept for consumption during thb monsoon, as owing to the small amount 
of intestines and the compressed form of the body very little salt is necessary for their preservation. 
As the salt tax falls heavily on the poor classes of Natives, they evade it, along the coast (at least 
in the Native States of Malabar), by opening and cleansing this little fish, soaking it in the sea, 
and drying it in the sun. It is of course but partially salted, and when eaten during the monsoon 
is in a semi-putrid state, thereby giving rise to attacks of diarrhoea and dysentery. 
Habitat—Seas of India and Malaysia. Said to be occasionally captured in fresh water. 
Equula edentula. 
Scomber edentulus, Bloch , t. 428. 
Komaii karah, Bussell , pi. 63. 
Equula ensifera, Guv. & Veil. x. p. 66. 
Equula coma, Guv. & Val. x. p. 76. 
Tottah karah, Russell , pi. 62. 
Equula caballa, Guv. & Val. x. p. 73; Cantor , Catal. p. 146. 
Equula edentula, Gunther , Catal. ii. p. 498. 
B.v. D. P.17. V. A. A. T 3 ¥ . C. 17. 
Length of head of pectoral )t, of caudal base of dorsal f, base of anal ^ of total length. 
Height of head of body 1,-, of hard dorsal 1, of soft dorsal qj, of ventral J-, of anal spines of 
anal rays ^ of total length. 
Eyes—Diameter length of head, f of a diameter from end of snout, 1 diameter apart. 
Upper profile rather more curved than the lower. 
Mouth directed nearly horizontally, opening moderate; intermaxillaries rather convex supe¬ 
riorly and equal to one and a quarter diameters of the orbit. Mandibulae very concave below ; 
interorbital cavity rather broad, coming to a point opposite the posterior end of the orbit, and 
having a longitudinal ridge along the anterior portion of the groove. A slight roughness exists 
along the superior superciliary ridge, where there are two rather strong supraorbital spines directed 
backwards. Opercle narrow, posteriorly angular, and its greatest width not equalling half its 
height. Lower margin of the horizontal line of the preopercle rather strongly serrated, its length 
being rather more than half that of its vertical limb ; angle scarcely rounded. 
Teeth—Small, and concealed by rather thick lips. 
Fins—Pectoral arises just below the end of opercle, and scarcely in advance of the dorsal and 
ventral which are on a line. Anal commences opposite the eighth spine of the dorsal. First 
spine of the dorsal very short; second rather more than half the height of the body, with a deep 
groove down its anterior margin, and two sevenths longer than the third spine, which has on 
its lower half anteriorly a flat serrated bony expansion, becoming gradually wider interiorly, so 
that it extends as far as the next spine. Fourth spine somewhat shorter, and serrated anteriorly. 
