THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 
235 
* Alausa palasah. 
Palasah, Russell , pi. 198. 
Clupanodon ilisha, Ham. Buck. pp. 243, 382, pi. 19, f. 73 {young). 
Alausa palasah, Guv. & Val. xx. p. 432; Jerdon , Madras Journal xv. p. 345 ; Cantor , 
Catal. p. 300. 
Sable fish. 
B. vi. D. 19. P. 14-16. Y. 8 . A. 19. C. 19. L. 1. 47-49. L. tr. 19. 
Body oblong, the abdominal edge toothed. 
Length of head of the total length. Height of body A of the total length. 
Eyes—With thick adipose lids, upper margins near the profile. 
Snout slightly pointed : upper jaw strongly emarginate, mouth small. 
Teeth—Absent. 
Fins—Pectoral pointed. Dorsal nearly central, cut square. Caudal scaly and deeply forked. 
Scales—Closely set. None on the head. 
Colours—Greenish above, silvery beneath. Eyes silvery. 
It is captured both in the sea and in the fresh water. It is said by Dr. Jerdon to ascend 
the Cavery during the freshes for the purpose of spawning, and is taken for the sake of its roe, 
which is highly esteemed. Cantor observes upon its affinity to the Alausa toll, C. & V., or shad, 
from which the best fish roes are prepared, and the fishing of which is stated to form a distinct 
and important branch of trade in the Indian Archipelago. 
It is good eating, but rather oily: growing to sixteen inches in length. It is said to ascend 
the Ganges in August. 
Habitat—Seas and rivers near the coasts of India and Malaysia. 
Alausa melanura. 
Alausa melanura, Guv. & Val. xx. p. 441. 
B. vi. D. 16-18. P.14. Y. 8 . A. 17-18. C. 21. L.l. 39. L. tr. 9. 
Length of head 3 , of pectoral jt, of caudal ^, of base of dorsal 3 , of base of anal j of the 
total length. Height of head 3 , of body of dorsal J of the total length. 
Eyes—Diameter | of length of head, f of a diameter from end of snout, 1 diameter apart. 
Body compressed, abdominal profile more convex that that of the back. 
Mouth small, anterior: maxilla broad, and extending to beneath the centre of the orbit. 
Opercle above twice as high as wide : subopercle almost triangular, its posterior and inferior margins 
forming a curve. Interopercle broad. Abdominal margin sharp, keeled, and having twenty-seven 
imbricated spinous scales along its edge. 
Teeth—Not apparent. 
Fins—Pectoral arises close to and beneath the lower angle of the subopercle : dorsal rather 
nearer the snout than it is to the base of the caudal: ventral under the origin of the dorsal: anal 
commences midway between the origin of the ventral and the base of the caudal. Pectoral pointed. 
Dorsal highest in front, its first three rays unbranched, the fourth the longest. A row of scales 
exists along its base, that of the anal, and of the caudal, which last fin is deeply lobed. 
Scales—Vertical diameter about three times as long as their horizontal. 
2 h 2 
