OCR Text |
Show 1867.] MR. F. DAY ON INDIAN FISHES. 295 Length of head nearly |, of pectoral 1 of base of dorsal §, of base of anal J*-, of caudal a little above A of the total length. Height Of head \, of body \, of dorsal fin ^, of anal ^ of the total length. Eyes. Diameter f of length of head, 11 diameter apart, 1 diameter from end of snout. Profile more convex on the ventral than on the dorsal aspect. Cleft of mouth large, directed forwards and slightly upwards, extending posteriorly to beneath the middle of the orbit. The lower jaw is received at its termination into a slight emargination formed by the junction of the intermaxillaries. The anterior surface of the snout, and the sides of the intermaxillaries and of the lower jaw, covered with large glands ; some also exist along the inferior surface of the lower jaw. Nostrils at anterior superior angle of the orbit, nearer to it than to the end of the snout, and divided from one another by a membranous valve; the posterior broad and patent, the anterior semitubular. Fins. Dorsal commences midway between snout and middle of caudal fin, and opposite the anterior third of the ventral, extending posteriorly to above the third anal ray. Caudal moderately emarginate, lower lobe slightly the longest. Anterior extremities of dorsal and anal fins the highest; the former with a slightly convex, the latter with a convex and concave margin. . Scales moderately large, with from two to three raised lines on each. The base of the dorsal scaleless, of the anal sliglitly scaled. Two long free scales at the base of the ventral. Base of caudal scaled. Lateral line in single tubes on each scale; it passes downwards nearly to the abdominal profile, along which it runs parallel. Teeth. Pharyngeal teeth in three rows, curved, slightly hooked, and pointed at their extremities, 5, 4, 2/2, 4, 5. Colours. Head purplish silvery, generally of a shade of grey glossed with purple, becoming silvery white along the abdomen. About fifteen vertical greyish silvery bands pass from the grey of the back to nearly as low as the lateral line; in the old males they are more in the form of large oval spots. Fins greyish, the anterior extremity of the dorsal and anal tipped with white. In a very few young the body was marked with black bands in the form of the letter W . The old males differ so m u c h from the young and the females as at first to appear like different species; in the latter the scales are quite smooth, and but few glands around the jaws. Some of the males, on the contrary, when full-grown, have from one to three rough spots on each scale in the posterior half of the body, the lateral line is indistinctly apparent, the caudal fin is comparatively short, and its lower lobe considerably the longest. This species differs from the Barilius bakeri, being of a more slender shape, whilst the jaws are surrounded by large glands, and, instead of a few distinct oval or round spots along the lateral line, it has fifteen distinct stripes. Fishes of this genus are invariably called Trout by Europeans. Hab. The Bowany and Seegoor Rivers, and the rapid streams along the lower slopes of the Neilgherries. |