| OCR Text |
Show 300 MR. F. DAY ON INDIAN FISHES. [Mar. 14, Eyes. Diameter f of length of head, 1^ diameter apart, 1 diameter from end of snout. Profile from snout to anterior margin of dorsal fin almost straight, then sinking along its base it again becomes straight. Abdominal profile more convex. Body compressed. Cleft of mouth short, oblique, not extending halfway to the orbit; the anterior surface of the lower jaw, when the mouth is closed, forms part of the upper profile. Snout rather depressed. Lower lip rather fleshy, not covering the tip of the lower jaw. The superior pair of cirri reach as far as the middle of the orbit; the inferior pair extend from the angle of the mouth to beyond the base of the ventral fin. Praeorbital triangular, apex below. Fins. Dorsal short, placed opposite the anal, and commencing midway between the anterior margin of the orbit and posterior extremity of the caudal fin. Pectoral large, falcated, reaching to the commencement of the ventral, which is short. Caudal deeply lunated. Teeth. Pharyngeal teeth slightly crooked and pointed, 5/5, in a single row. Scales of moderate size. Lateral line absent. Colours. Greyish silvery above, becoming silvery white below the middle of the body, along which runs a silvery stripe, which has a narrow yellow edge superiorly. In one specimen the silver stripe was edged superiorly by a broad black band. Hab. Trichoor in Malabar. Subgenus NURIA. Differs from Esomus in the presence of a lateral line strongly curved. ESOMUS (NURIA) MADERASPATENSIS, sp. nov. B.iii. D.2/7. P. 12. V. 9. A. 3/5. L. 1. 32. L. tr. 5/2. Length of specimens up to 3 inches. Length of head fa, of pectoral ^, of caudal ^- of the total length. Height of head \, of body |, of dorsal \, of anal \ of the total length. Eyes. Diameter f of length of head, 1 diameter apart, f of a diameter from end of snout. Cleft of mouth short, oblique, not extending above* one-third of the distance to below the orbit, and gape three times as wide as the cleft is deep. Two pairs of cirri, as in the last species. Fins. Dorsal short, its anterior half in advance of the origin of the anal. Pectoral does not extend so far as the ventral; neither does the latter reach the anal. Caudal deeply lunated. Teeth. Pharyngeal teeth in one row, straight and sharp, 5/5. Colours. Silvery white, with a silvery line extending along the centre of either side. Fins diaphanous. Hab. Bowany Biver. It is also exceedingly common at Madras. |
