| OCR Text |
Show 1867.] MR. F. DAY ON NEW INDIAN FISHES. 349 at the angle of the mouth, thicker and slightly longer than the other two pairs. The lips do not cover the jaws. Snout soft; nostrils at anterior superior angle of the orbit, the posterior oval, the anterior circular, the two divided from one another by a valve. Summit of head smooth. Branchial aperture small, vertical. Isthmus wide. Branchiostegal membranes concealed. Fins. Dorsal situated midway between end of snout and the base of the caudal fin, as well as opposite the ventral. Pectoral arises nearly under opercles, and extends to the base of the ventral. The anal is situated in the posterior fifth of the body. Dorsal fin highest anteriorly. Pectoral subhorizontal, with a broad fleshy base, its anterior margin rounded. Ventral also subhorizontal, and its front margin rounded. Caudal lobed in its posterior third, and the inferior raj's produced. Scales small, none above, or on the head, or anterior surface of the abdomen; a few before the anus (except in the mesial line), which is situated opposite the posterior extremity of the ventral fin. They are roughened in circular or horizontal furrows ; edges smooth. Teeth. Pharyngeal teeth 5/5. Lateral line straight from behind the orbit to the centre of the caudal fin. It consists of single tubes in each scale. Colours. Dull olive, becoming yellow beneath, with deep-brown blotches. Fins diaphanous ; dorsal with three rows of dark spots ; ventral with three or four; anal with two ; pectoral yellowish, dark anteriorly, and with three rows of dots across it; caudal with three irregular bands and black tips. Out of eight specimens the largest was 3| inches long. Hab. Wynaad, in streams. GARRA ALTA, sp. nov. Cut kor ava (Tam.). Stone Ophiocephalus. B.iii. D. 2/8. P.15. V. 10. A. 2/5. C. 17. L.l. 32. L. tr. 5/3. Length of head |-, of pectoral above \, of base of dorsal \, of anal J^-, of caudal 4; of the total length. Height of head £, of body 4/, of dorsal i, of anal 4- of the total length. Eye circular, situated near to the upper profile of the head, and directed slightly outwards and upwards. Diameter ^ of length of head, 2\ diameters apart, 3\ diameters from end of snout. The abdominal profile in this species is nearly horizontal, from the anterior extremity of the snout to the base of the caudal fin ; whilst the dorsal profile is much elevated, forming a curve, from the anterior margin of the snout to the base of the dorsal fin. The head at the occiput is broad, whilst the snout is also comparatively wide. Snout with a badly developed transverse cleft, and the whole covered with very large glands. Mouth transverse and below, its gape equal to two-thirds the length of the base of the dorsal fin. An oval suctorial disk situated behind the lower jaw. One pair of cirri on snout, equal in length to the diameter of the orbit; the maxillary pair only one-third of that length. |
