210 
THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 
Lateral line—In single distinct tubes in each scale : it first descends slightly for sis scales, 
and opposite the centre of the opercle passes direct to the caudal. 
Colours—Silvery, with a large diffused black spot on the lateral line, extending from the 
twenty-fourth to the twenty-eighth scale. A red spot on opercle. Dorsal and pectoral tinged 
with red, and minutely spotted with black, as are also the bases of the scales and the various pieces 
of the opercles. External half of ventral bright orange-scarlet; anal tipped with red : both 
minutely dotted with black. Caudal stained with black. 
From a small pond in Cochin. 
Habitat—Fresh waters of Malabar. 
2. Unbranched dorsal rays cartilayinous , and articulated in their whole extent, 
Puntius melanampyx. Plate XVI. Fig. 1. 
Labeo melanampyx, Day , Proc. Zool. Soc. 1865, p. 298. 
B. iii. D. f. P. 16. V. 9. A. §. C. 18. L. 1. 20. L. tr. f. 
Length of head -§, of pectoral jt, of base of dorsal T 2 g, of base of anal y T , of caudal § of total 
length. Height of head y, of body L, of dorsal of anal j of total length. 
Eyes—Diameter nearly J length of head, upwards of 1 diameter from end of snout, and 1L 
apart. 
Profile ascends to anterior margin of the dorsal, from whence to the caudal it gradually 
descends. Abdomen rather flat below, its profile not so convex as that of the back : sides com¬ 
pressed. 
Mouth rather small, directed forwards and slightly downwards, upper jaw rather longer than 
the lower. Lips continuous from upper to lower jaw : lower lip with numerous fine pores, 
thickened below the symphysis. Preorbital rather triangular, with the base anterior. Snout bulging 
and laterally rather swollen, both it and the preorbital are covered by crenations : some widely 
scattered pores exist over the whole of the upper surface of the head. Nostrils nearer to the orbit 
than to the end of the snout, anterior tubular, and separated by a membraneous valve from the 
posterior which is oval and patent. 
Teeth—Pharyngeal teeth in three rows, crooked and sharp, 4, 3, 2, | 2, 3, 4. 
Fins—Dorsal arises midway between snout and base of caudal, it is slightly in advance of the 
origin of the ventral, which is sub-horizontal: the anal arises midway between the posterior 
extremity of the opercle and the termination of the caudal, and is entirely posterior to the whole 
of the dorsal. Caudal deeply lobed. Dorsal and anal fins with a row of scales at their bases. 
Pectoral reaches almost to the ventral, the tip of which last nearly touches the anal. 
Scales—Large. 
Lateral line—Slightly descends. 
Colours—Reddish brown with three vertical black bands, one behind the eye, a second anterior 
to the base of the dorsal fin, which is wide at its origin but narrows close to the ventral: a third 
from the termination of the dorsal, crosses the lateral line, but does not reach the base of the anal: 
occasionally a fourth crosses the base of the caudal. Muzzle black. Fins dusky. Eyes reddish. 
I am indebted to the Rev. H. Baker, junior, of Cottayam, for several specimens of this fish, 
which he captured in the river on the hills at Mundikyum, where it is common, and grows to three 
inches in length. 
Habitat—Hill ranges of Travancore. 
