THE FISHES OF MALABAE. 
167 
Genus HEMIRAMPHUS, Cuvier. 
Brancliiostegals, about twelve or thirteen. Body sub cylindrical and elongated. Eyes lateral. Upper 
jaw very short, formed by the intermaxillaries, the symphysis of the lower jaw extended into a long beak, 
at upper and posterior portion of which beneath the upper jaw is the margin of the mouth. A single dorsal 
situated in the posterior portion of the body opposite to an anal of a similar description. Yentral six- 
rayed, anterior to the dorsal. Caudal generally lobed, the lower usually the longest. Teeth villiform in both 
jaws in several rows. Scales of moderate size or large. Grill openings very wide. Air vessel large. No 
caecal appendages. 
Hemiramphus Reynaldi. 
Hemiramphus Reynaldi, Cuv. & Val. xix. p. 39. 
Morrul, Mai. 
B. xii. D. 16. P.12. Y. 6. A. 15. C. 15. L. 1. 50-58. L. tr. 6-7. 
Length of head excluding beak nearly ], including beak -1-, of pectoral l, of caudal of base 
of dorsal of base of anal ^ of total length. Height of head y^, of body of dorsal yk, of 
ventral y 1 ., of anal yk of total length. 
Eyes—Oval, superior margins close to profile. Horizontal diameter l;, and vertical diameter 
1 horizontal diameter to end of snout, f of a horizontal diameter apart in the centre, but further 
posteriorly. 
Body elongated, moderately compi'essed, head slightly depressed. 
The intermaxillaries form an obtuse triangle, the base behind, the apex in front, rounded, and 
its length a fourth less than its width at its base: a furrow passes longitudinally down its centre, 
its edges are slightly raised, and its external margin is a little convex at its centre. The posterior 
extremity of the maxilla reaches to opposite the anterior margin of the orbit. The width of the 
mouth is a fourth greater than its length, and the length of the beak from the end of the inter¬ 
maxillaries to the tip, is equal to the length from the base of the pectoral to the anterior extremity 
of the mouth, consequently the end of the snout is midway between the base of the pectoral and 
the tip of the beak : it is thin and straight. From the centre of the beak at its base, a ridge 
arises which from its first third is continued along the upper surface of the beak in the form of a 
groove as far as its tip. Interorbital space flat. Preopercle rectangular, angle slightly produced. 
Opercle a third higher than wide, and all the edges nearly straight. The openings of the nostrils 
are placed in a shallow oval depression, in front and rather internal to the upper margins of the 
orbit. 
Teeth—Villiform, placed in close bands, wider in the mandibulie than in the upper jaw. 
Opposite the centre of the lower jaw there is a short edentulous interval where a ridge exists. 
Fins—Pectoral arises a short distance posterior to, and on a level with, the superior margin 
of the opercle: ventral commences midway between the anterior margin of the orbit and the 
base of the caudal: anal arises the width of one scale nearer the caudal than it does to the ventral, 
and is slightly behind the dorsal. Dorsal highest in front, upper margin rather concave : anal of 
the same shape. Caudal lobed, the lower a third longer and much larger than the upper. 
Scales—Deciduous, covering the body and summit of head. 
Lateral fine—Proceeds parallel to the abdomen, passing just above the ventral, and two scales 
above the anal, from whence it reaches the centre of the fin by crossing the base of the upper ray 
of the lower lobe. 
