148 
THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 
A single specimen was captured at tlie mouth, of the Cochin river, it was nearly four inches 
long. Its small scales and two spines might probably constitute this a sub-genus. 
Habitat—Malabar. 
Ophiocephalus striatus. 
Ophiocephalus striatus, Bloch , t. 359 ; Cuv. & Val. vii. p. 417, pi. 202, 206 ; Cantor , 
Catal. p. 92 ; Jordon, Madras Journal, xv. p. 146 ; Gunther , Catal. iii. p. 474. 
Muttah, Bussell , pi. 162. 
Ophiocephalus wrahl, Ham. Buch. pp. 60, 367, pi. 31, f. 17 ; McClelland, Calcutta 
Journal of Natural History, ii. p. 575. 
Ophiocephalus chena, Ilam. Buch. pp. 62, 367. 
? Ophiocephalus planiceps, Cuv. & Val. vii. p. 424. 
Verarl, and Wrahl, Mai. Morrul, Hindustani. 
B. v. D. 37-40. P. 17. Y. 6. A. 23-26. C. 13. L. 1. 51-57. L. tr. f:f 
Length of head of pectoral of caudal of base of dorsal J, of base of anal of total 
length. Height of head |, of body 1, of dorsal yj, of anal W, of ventral f of the total length. 
Eyes—Situated near the profile. Diameter ^ of length of head, 1 diameter from end of 
snout, 1|- diameters apart. 
Body long, sub-cylindrical, head depressed, body laterally compressed, wider opposite opercle, 
where it about equals the height of the body. Under surface of the head flat : cheeks rather 
inflated. 
Mouth obtuse, cleft wide, maxilla extending the width of the orbit behind it ; upper jaw 
slightly protrusible, wider than the lower, which is rather the longest. A tubercle at the 
symphysis of the lower jaw, and a glandular orifice just behind and below it. Four clusters of 
glandular openings along the inferior margin of the lower jaw, and many other similar clusters in 
various other places on the body and head. Interorbital space flat, and covered with large 
polygonal scales. Between the eye and the angle of the preopercle are eight rows of scales. The 
opercle ends in an obtuse point. The opening of the posterior nostril are just in front of, and 
above the eyes. 
Teeth—Numerous, sharp and pointed in jaws, vomer, and palate, with some large curved ones 
along the sides and in the posterior row on the lower jaw. 
Fins—The dorsal commences just over the pectoral, and terminates slightly posterior to the 
termination of the anal: ventral arises opposite the fourth ray of the dorsal, and the anal beneath 
the thirteenth dorsal ray. Dorsal rays weak, membrane rather deeply cleft. Pectoral rounded, 
and does not extend so far as the origin of the anal. Ventral small. Anal the same shape as the 
dorsal. Caudal rounded. 
Scales—Cover body and head: those on the body are irregularly circular and horizontally 
lineated; whilst on the head they are semicircular, and on its vertex irregularly shaped, one large 
one existing midway between the orbits. Several glands open on some of the scales. 
Lateral line—Consists of short central, bifurcating tubes on each scale ; at first it is on the 
fifth row, but opposite the twelfth dorsal ray it bends down to the seventh, from whence it 
proceeds direct to the centre of the caudal fin. 
