| OCR Text |
Show 790 MR. F. DAY ON THE FISHES OF YARKAND. [Dec. 5, tremity, and not serrated. Pectoral two fifths as long as the head. Ventral arises below the anterior dorsal rays. Caudal forked. Scales: are scarcely imbricated, but cover the entire body; those forming the tiled sheath along the base of the anal fin are two thirds of the diameter of the eye. Colours: silvery superiorly, becoming dull white beneath; a few blackish spots along the back. This interesting skin has unfortunately had its anal fin removed, whilst the pharyngeal teeth have not been preserved. The specimen is 52 inches in length. It may be considered that as this fish differs from P. conirostris in the form of its mouth and snout, also in the position of the ventral fin, it might form a new genus ; but we have yet much to learn of the mountain Barbels ; perhaps a more extensive acquaintance will decrease the genera into which they are at present subdivided. Hab. Kashgar (4043 feet elevation), the river from which place eventually joins the Yarkand river. 11. PTYCHOBARBUS LONGICEPS, sp. nov. B.iv., D. |, P. 19, V. 12, A. | C. 20, L. 1. 112, L. tr. 31. Length of head 3§- to 4, of caudal 7 to 7\, height of body b\ to 6 in the total length. Eyes: diameter 7 to 9 in the length of head, 1^ diameter from the end of snout, and 2 apart. Mouth anterior, cleft oblique, commencing superiorly opposite the upper margin of the eye. Lower jaw somewhat the longer ; the maxilla reaches to below the middle of the eye. The greatest width of the head rather exceeds its height, and equals half its length. Interorbital space flat. No lower labial fold under the mandibles. Barbels: a maxillary pair half as long as the eye. Fins : the dorsal commences midway between the hind edge of the preopercle and the base of the caudal fin. Its last undivided ray is osseous, of moderate strength, and very finely serrated posteriorly; its osseous portion equals a little above one fourth of the length of the head. Pectoral half as long as the head, and reaches halfway to the ventral; the latter fin commences under the first divided dorsal ray, and does not extend quite halfway to the root of the anal. Anal twice as high as its base is long; it does not reach the caudal when laid flat; the latter fin forked. Scales oval, nearly as wide as high and slightly imbricate; the tiled row half the diameter of the eye. Free portion of the tail rather longer than high. Colours : bluish on the back, lightest below, dorsal and caudal spotted. Hab. Yarkand, whence the stuffed specimen described was brought. It is 31 inches in length. This species scarcely accords with the definition of Ptychobarbus, the last undivided dorsal ray being osseous and finely serrated ; but the specimen is large, whilst P. laticeps forms the intermediate form between it and P. conirostris. |
