| OCR Text |
Show 1868.] DR. J. E. GRAY ON SACCOMYINAE. 199 dal ¥ of the total length. Height of head h of body L of dorsal fin fa- of the total length. Eyes. Diameter nearly ^ of length of head, \ a diameter from end of snout, 1 diameter apart. Profile of back nearly horizontal, having only a slight elevation to the dorsal fin. Abdominal profile convex. Upper surface of head compressed. Mouth antero-superior; when closed the end of the lower jaw forms part of the dorsal profile; tip of the lower jaw thin and not covered by lip. The nasal cirrus is short, whilst the maxillary extends as far as the operculum. Teeth. Pharyngeal teeth in three rows, crooked and pointed, 5, 3, 1/1, 3, 5. Fins. Dorsal commences opposite to the anal and slightly in advance of the centre of the total length; there are fourteen rows of scales between its origin and the head. Caudal deeply lobed. Dorsal and anal highest anteriorly. Pectoral reaches as far as origin of ventral. Lateral line absent. Colours. Metallic dark blue with brilliant reflections, divided along the body by four horizontal white lines, whilst there is a greenish tinge along the back; the blue of the body is continued on to the tail, where it forms three bands. Dorsal with a dark blue edging. Anal with three horizontal blue bands. Hab. Ennore, near Madras. A number of these little fishes were kept some months in an aquarium, but did not increase in size. They prefer swimming close to the surface, and eat meat more readily than vegetable food. I have placed this fish as a Danio as defined by Dr. Bleeker. 4. Synopsis of the Species of Saccomyince, or Pouched Mice, in the Collection of the British M u s e u m . By Dr. J O H N E D W A R D G R A Y , F.E.S., V.P.Z.S., F.L.S., &c. The family of Pouched Mice is well characterized by Dr. Spencer Baird in his work on the ' Mammalia of North America,' p. 403 ; and he has carefully described the North-American species which came under his observation. The family, as far as is known, is confined to North and Central America and the West-India Islands. Unfortunately the British Museum wants several of the species found in the northern part of the United States ; so I have only been able to refer to Dr. Spencer Baird's description of them. It contains several species of Spiny Rats that were sent to the Museum from Paris under the names used in Dr. Baird's work ; but they are evidently not the species to which they have been referred, as they differ in the form of the upper cutting-teeth. |
