214 
THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 
Lateral line—Slopes gradually down from the posterior superior margin of opercle to opposite 
the end of the pectoral, from whence it proceeds nearly direct to the centre of the caudal. 
Colours—Back green, abdomen silvery, a slight golden tinge on the opercle, and a dark 
diffused spot on the lateral line from the twenty-first to the twenty-third scales. Dorsal stained 
rather dark along its upper margin. Pectoral, ventral and anal yellowish. Caudal dirty white. 
In the monsoon time a beautiful rosy streak extends from the eye to the centre of the caudal fin ; 
the back is of a more olive green, and the fins redder. 
When young the summit of the head is golden green, and a yellow streak runs from opposite 
the centre of the eye to the centre of the tail. When about two inches in length the black spot 
on the side of the tail commences to appear, and by degrees the golden streak along the side dis¬ 
appears. 
Grows to five or six inches hi length. 
Habitat—Fresh waters of Southern India. 
With no cirri (Puntius , Ham. Buch.) 
1. Unbranched dorsal rays osseous, the last serrated posteriorly. 
Puntius punctatus, Plate VII. f. 1. 
Puntius punctatus, Day , Proc. Zool. Soc. 1865, p. 302. 
Puttee perlee, Mai. 
B. hi. D. f. P. 15. V. 8. A. f. C. 18. L. 1. 27. L. tr. f. 
Length of head jt, of pectoral of base of dorsal j, of base of anal jq, of caudal ^ of total 
length. Height of head V of body g, of dorsal 1 of total length. 
Eyes—Large, close to profile,-nearly 4 the length of head, 1. of a diameter from end of snout, 
nearly 1 diameter apart. 
The posterior extremity of maxilla does not extend quite to the anterior margin of the orbit. 
Suborbital ring of bones very broad, almost entirely hiding the preopercle. Sub- and inter- 
opercles narrow. 
Fins—Pectoral arises opposite the posterior inferior angle of the subopercle : the ventral, one 
scale beyond the extremity of the pectoral: anal just under the dorsal, opposite the fifteenth scale 
on the lateral line. Dorsal fin highest in front, superior border concave : its first unbranched ray 
very minute, second nearly half the height of the third, which is strong, broad, and serrated in the 
upper two-thirds of its posterior margin : a row of scales along its base. Pectoral pointed. Ven¬ 
tral with a large elongated scale at its base. Anal with its first unbranched ray very minute, often 
quite hidden. Caudal with a broad base, and moderately lobed. 
Scales—With two or three radiating lines. 
Lateral line—At first curves gradually downwards, and from opposite the base of the ventral 
passes direct to the caudal. 
Colours—Olive green above, gradually fading into silvery on the abdomen. A black diffused 
spot on the twentieth and twenty-first scales of the lateral line. The anterior half of the fourth 
scale from the opercle in the row next the lateral line is of a deep black, as is also a portion of 
the scale above, and that beneath it. Fins yellowish, dorsal and anal tipped with orange. Dorsal 
