| OCR Text |
Show 1880.] MR. F. DAY ON THE FISHES OF AFGHANISTAN. 227 SCAPHIODON ACULEATUS. Chondrostoma aculeatum, Cuv. & Val. xvii. p. 408. B. hi D. 13 (T\). P. 15. V. 9. A. 3 I 7. C. 17. L. I. 37. L. tr. 7-| | 5. Length of head 5-J, of caudal fin 5, height of the body 4 times in the total length. Eyes : diameter 3 | in the length of the head, 1 diameter from the end of the snout, and 1^ apart. Interorbital space nearly flat, snout obtuse; upper jaw the longer; mouth wide, the extent of its cleft not being quite equal to half the width of its gape. The posterior extremity of the maxilla does not reach to beneath the front edge of the eye. Lips thin, with a deciduous horny covering, lost in the single example from Gwadur, but present in both of those from Tral. No tubercle at symphysis. Barbels : a single, short, maxillary pair. Teeth rather compressed, flattened at their extremities, 5, 3, 2 | 2, 3, 5. Pseudobranchise well developed. Fins: dorsal commences midway between the end of the snout and the base of the caudal fin ; its last undivided ray is osseous, rather weak, but strongly serrated ; its anterior rays are as high as the base of the fin is long : pectoral as long as the head, excluding the snout; ventral inserted beneath the middle of the dorsal fin ; anal commences midway between the bases of the ventral and caudal fins, the latter forked. Scales in regular rows; four rows between the ventral fin and the lateral line. Lateral line goes almost direct to the centre of the base of the caudal fin. Colours : silvery, darkest along the back; fins grey, the edges being stained rather darker. Habitat. River near Gwadur, from which it was procured by Colonel Miles. The example is 4 inches long ; two, also from Tral, sent by Dr. Duke, the longer 4^ inches. It agrees with Valenciennes' short description of Chondrostoma aculeatum, which was obtained from Persia. SCAPHIODON MICROPHTHALMUS, n. sp. B. iii. D. 13 (-5%). P. 17. V.9. A.2|8. C. 19. L.l. 39. L. tr. 6 | 5. Length of head 5 | to 5|, of caudal fin 5|, height of body 43 in the total length. Eyes small, diameter 5^ in the length of the head, 2 diameters from the end of the snout, and 2\ apart. Interorbital space slightly convex. The greatest width of the head equals its length excluding the snout. Mouth somewhat overhung by the snout; upper jaw rather overlapping the lower. Mouth wide ; lips with a horny covering ; the posterior extremity of the maxilla does not extend quite so far as to below the anterior edge of the orbit. Preorbital wider than the rest of the suborbital ring of bones. Nostrils close together, patent, and nearer to the eye than to the end of the snout. Barbels: a short maxillary pair two thirds as long as the eye. Pseudobranchise present. I^A-"pharyngeal, plough-shaped, 5,3, 2 | 2,3,5. Fins: the dorsal commences nearly midway between the end of the snout and the base of the caudal fin, its last divided ray weak and |
