200 
THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 
Saurida TUMBIL. 
Salmo tumbil, Bloch , t. 430. 
Badi mottah, Russell , pi. 172. 
Saurida tombil, Guv. & Val. xxii. p. 500; Cantor , Catal. pp. 270, 442. 
Saurida tumbil, Gunther , Catal. v. p. 399. 
Arranna, Mai . 
B. xiii. D. 12 | 0. P. 16. Y. 10. A. 10. C. 19. L. 1. 53-64. L. tr. f. 
Length of head yj-, of pectoral y<y, of caudal ^, of base of first dorsal of base of adipose dorsal 
about yb, of base of anal yy of total length. Height of head An of body y 2 s , of first dorsal 4, of 
adipose dorsal about -R , of ventral l, of anal T y of total length. 
Eyes—Oval, with broad adipose lids; upper margins close to the profile: horizontal dia¬ 
meter -1, vertical diameter l of length of head, 1} diameters from end of snout, 1^ diameters 
apart. 
Body elongated, sub-cylindrical; head compressed. A raised keel of scales along either side 
of the body. 
Cleft of mouth very wide, extending to nearly one diameter behind the posterior margin of 
the orbit. Posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches nearly to the angle of the preopercle. 
Intermaxillaries very long, tapering, extending to the angle of the mouth, and crowded with 
teeth. Mandibulse broad, shallow, tapering almost to a point in front, and crowded with teeth. 
Lips absent. Posterior margin of the preopercle rather oblique, and convex. Opercles rounded. 
Preorbital and anterior suborbitals, festooned in radiating ridges, arising from two points, the 
anterior under the snout, the posterior under the centre of the orbit. Interorbital space and 
centre of the summit of head with rather a broad, shallow, longitudinal groove. Nostrils double. 
Teeth—Several rows of card-like teeth in the upper jaw, the internal the largest, and the 
external smallest: the surface of the intermaxillaries on which they are placed is bevilled off, so 
as to look outwards. The teeth on the mandibuke are of the same character as the largest internal 
and smallest external rows : they are more numerous than in the upper jaw, and placed on a 
surface looking upwards and outwards. Teeth on palate in two distinct rows, the internal series 
in each of which is the largest, whilst the inner is only one-third the length of the outer row. A 
small round patch of teeth on the vomer. 
Fins—Pectoral commences rather behind the opercles, and opposite the angle of the 
mouth; first dorsal in the centre of the body, its anterior extremity being as far from the snout as 
its posterior is from the root of the caudal: ventral arises midway between the end of the pectoral 
and the commencement of the dorsal; and the anal midway between the end of the ventral and 
the base of the caudal: the adipose dorsal is situated over the last two anal rays. The second 
ray of the first dorsal is undivided and the longest, the last being not quite a third as long: upper 
margin of the fin concave, the last ray rather prolonged. Ventral placed horizontally, with a long 
elongated scale at its base, the last ray the longest. Anal with the second ray the longest. Caudal 
deeply forked, the upper lobe sometimes the longest. 
Scales—With their exposed portions higher than wide : they are present over the body and 
head, with some on the base of the caudal fin. A broad triangular scale exists in the axilla. 
Lateral line—Bather nearer the back than the abdomen, and on the sixth row of scales. The 
number of scales on this row appears to vary; in several specimens examined at Cochin none had 
more than fifty-six. The keel is most developed in the posterior third of the body. 
