OCR Text |
Show 1867.] MR. F. DAY ON INDIAN FISHES. 563 some specimens there are three bands on the head, and those in the anterior part of the body divide into two at their lower halves. Hab. Madras. Genus GOGRIUS. Branchiostegals seven. Opercular bones with moveable articulations. Bones on summit of head granulated and covered with thin skin. Mouth wide, anterior ; upper jaw mostly the longest. Two pairs of cirri, the maxillary thin, the mandibular wide apart. Nostrils approximating, the posterior provided with a valve. Eyes not covered by skin. Teeth in jaws slightly villiform anteriorly, but posteriorly molars with more or less large rounded crowns; on the palate also molars with globular crowns, placed in two widely separated patches, converging anteriorly. Two dorsals : the first with a strong serrated spine and seven rays, and placed before the ventral ; second dorsal adipose and small. Pectoral spine strong, serrated on both edges. Caudal forked. Air-bladder present. GOGRIUS SYKESII. Pimelodus gogra, Sykes. B. viii. D. £|0. P. 1/9. V. 6. A. 12. C. 17. Length of head \, of pectoral ^, of base of first dorsal |-, of base of adipose dorsal l, of base of anal y1^, of caudal i of the total length. Height of head \, of body 4), of first dorsal ^, of adipose dorsal yy, of ventral T, of anal T of the total length. Eye. Situated slightly above the level of the cleft of the mouth, directed rather upwards and outwards, transversely oval, and its transverse diameter •$• of length of head ; eyes 11 transverse diameter apart, 1 j from end of snout. Body stout; cheeks puffed out. The dorsal profile more convex than that of the abdomen, which last is almost straight. There is a considerable rise from the snout to the commencement of the dorsal fin. Summit of head rather compressed, whilst the snout appears to be slightly produced, and the upper jaw the longest. Gape of mouth wide, and equal to twice the extent of the cleft, which last does not reach to beneath the anterior margin of the orbit. Snout rather pointed. The intermaxillaries do not extend the whole width of the gape. A shallow longitudinal groove exists between the orbits, only extending one-third of the distance to the base of the occipital process, which is roughened and of equal width, which is scarcely equal to half its length, whilst it embraces the basal bone of the dorsal fin, which is roughened and of a V-shape. Nostrils midway between orbits and end of snout; they approximate, and are not furnished with a cirrus. Maxillary cirrus thin and extending to the base of the pectoral fin. Mandibular cirrus wide apart from that on the opposite side, commencing under the vertical from the anterior margin of the orbit, and reaching to beneath the root of the pectoral fin. Branchial membranes of the two sides coalesce in a wide band of skin, which is not confluent with that of the isthmus. |