2G0 
THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 
Mouth, anterior, lower jaw longest, cut obliquely, its posterior end being the highest, and its 
extremity forming more than half a circle. Lips thin. Nostrils situated in front of the eyes, 
approximating, rather tubular, the anterior largest and furnished with a valve. Grill openings 
small, linear, oblique, their upper ends opposite the posterior margin of the orbit, and their length 
one-third more than that of the orbit. 
Teeth—About eight pointed and cutting, the largest being in the centre. 
Fins—First dorsal arises over the centre of the orbit and base of pectoral: the second dorsal 
and anal opposite one another, or the last rather the most anterior, they are situated in the poste¬ 
rior half of the body. First dorsal consists of one long and thin spine, which can be laid flat, and 
a smaller one posterior to it, a groove equal to half its length exists along the back behind its base. 
Second dorsal consists of unbranched rays of about equal height. Pectoral pointed. Anal the same 
as the second dorsal. Caudal large, rormded with coarse branched rays. The Unless portion of the 
tail between the end of the vertical fins and the base of the caudal, equals one and a half transverse 
diameters of the orbit. 
Skin—Body covered with minute closely placed granules—in some places becoming hair-like 
and rough : the dorsal spine also rough. 
Colours—Yellowish, with small spots all over the head and body. Some fine blue lines round 
the eyes and encircling the mouth. Large blue spots and blotches in four or five irregular rows 
over the whole surface of the body. Dorsal and anal pinkish : caudal tipped with the same 
colour, otherwise of a dark brown very indistinctly barred. 
Grows to about ten inches in length. 
Habitat—Seas of Malabar, Malaysia, China, Canary Islands and Caribbean Sea. 
Genus TRIACANTHUS, Cuvier. 
Body moderately compressed: skin covered with minute closely set scales. Two dorsal fins, the 
anterior dorsal having its first spine elongated and stout: and a strong spine representing the ventral fin, 
which is moveable and articulated to a pelvis which is not prominent. All these spines can be laid 
flat in grooves posterior to them. Caudal fin moderately long. 
Triacanthus biaculeatus. 
Balistes biaculeatus, Bloch , t. 148, f. 2 ; Bennett , pi. 15. 
Bowree or Abatoo, Bussell , pi. 21. 
Triacantiius biaculeatus, Cantor , Catal. p. 3G0. 
B. vi. D. 5 | 24-25. P. 14. Y. 1. A. 19-20. C. 14. 
Length of head R of pectoral A, of caudal j } , of base of first dorsal j 1 ^, of base of second 
dorsal -§-, of base of anal j of the total length. Height of head of body of first dorsal j-, 
of second dorsal A> of ventral ’, of anal A of the total length. 
Eyes—Oval and close to profile : horizontal diameter -J, vertical diameter ^ of length of head, 
2 horizontal diameters from end of snout, 1 diameter apart. 
Body elliptical, decreasing in size towards the caudal fin : a considerable rise from snout to 
first dorsal, and rather a protrusion opposite the orbits, its highest portion being between the first 
dorsal and ventral fins. 
