No. X X X IX .
O p h id iu m c ir r is d u o k i s a d g u la m ; p in n a d o r sa lis a n a lisq u e c a u d a li u n i ta ; p in n a ca u d a setis
d u ab u s brevibus te rm in a ta .
T h e O p h id iu m w ith tw o c ir r i at th e th ro a t ; th e dorsal, a n a l, a n d c au d al fins u n ite d , th e
la tte r te rm in a tin g in tw o sh o rt th re a d s .
Ca lled b y th e N a tiv e s T o n k a h T a l a w a r e e .
B . V. D . 2 23. P . 15. V. 0 . A . 1 1 2 . C. 10.
T he body linear, lanceolate, sword-form, covered with a thin sraootli skin.
T h e bead small, short, obtuse, compressed. Mouth wide, no lip s ; jaws o f equal len g th ; a single row o f
small straight teeth in the fore part o f b o th ; behind which, in the under jaw , is a remarkably long, curved,
tooth, on each s id e ; there are two similar in form, but much shorter, in the upper jaw . T h e palate tuberculate.
T h e tongue short, lanceolate, smooth, free. T h e eyes high, large, roundish. Nostrils double, distant.
Opercula rounded, hardly moveable; branchial membrane exposed. From the posterior, inferior part o f the
throat, hang two thread-form cirri, above one inch in length.
T h e trunk. T h e back straight, roundish; the throat carin ate; the be lly sharp, the tail a little compressed,
pointed. N o lateral line. T h e anus very near the head.
T h e / « s . T h e pectoral small, short, lancet-form; the dorsal and anal very long, and both united with the
caudal, but in such a manner as to be distinguishable; the pointed caudal fin terminates in two short setaceous
cirri.
T h e colour was b y some accident omitted in the description.
T h e length one foot two inches.
Branchial opercula consist o f two flexible, streaked, oblong, plates; the membrane ha lf exposed.
T h e trunk. T h e back carinate, straigh t; the sides compressed; the abdomen very short, sub-conv ex; the
under part o f the tail rendered somewliat rougli, b y a series o f rough tubercles.
T h e branchice consist o f four leaves with one interior row o f tubercles. T h e lateral line descends from the
crest, but from two inches behind the pectoral fin, it runs in a straight line to the tail, nearer the belly than the
back. T h e anus near the head.
The jiiz s. T h e first ra y o f the dorsal, is nearly three inches in length, and resembles the cirri o f the c r e s t ;
the others are setaceous, the longest in the middle o f the fin not exceeding an in ch ; the pectoral very small,
o va te ; the ventral wanting, unless two cirri o f equal length witli those o f the crest, be taken for f in s ; the
anal are entirely wanting, the caudal (not united with the dorsal,) consists o f four ray s, connected at the base,
b y a thin, narrow, membrane, and afterwards joining together, terminate in a very small setaceous thread.
T h e colour, a pale silver; but the silvering comes o ff in thin pellicles upon handling. T h e dorsal fin on the
edge is darkish.
T h e length, two feet eight inches.
R EM A R K S .
T h is fish, unknown to Linnmus, has been made a new genus by Bloch, characterised by the want of
anal fins,
A figure has been given by Ascanius,* under the name Regalicus.
In the Danish Transactions for 1786, it is described Regalicus remipes ; f and in the Swedish Transactions,
in 1798. under the name Gymnetris G r illii.: A species received from Go a, b y Bloch, is distinguished, pinna
ventrali biradiata.
The se definitions differ, in some respects, from one another; and ail o f them from the present subject.
In 1796 a fish o f this genus was cast on shore, in C o rnw a ll; a drawing and description o f whicli were sent
to Sir Joseph Banks. It had to o ventral c ir r i; and in the crest o f the head resembled the present subject more
than any o f the others : the tail liad been broken o ff
T h e present fish was caught on the outside o f the su rf at Vizagapatam, in March 1788. T h e fishermen could
give no name to it ; declaring they never had seen an y like it before.
No. XL.
G y m n e t r u s , ca p ile c ir r is lo u g io r ib u s c r is ta to ; c i r r is duobus loco p in n a rum v e n tr a lium ; p in n a
a n a li carens.
T h e G y m n e t r u s , w ith a cre st o f lo n g c ir r i o n th e h e ad ; two c ir r i in th e p lac e o f v e n tra l
fin s ; n o an a l fin .
C a lled b y th e N a tiv e s
B . V. D . 3 2 0 . P . 1 1 . V. 2 . A . 0 . G. 4.
* leones Rerum Naturatium, Copenliag. 1772. + Nov. Act. Societ. Hafn. + Act. Acad. Stockholm, Vol. XIX.
T h e body lanceolate, sword-form, smooth, without scales.
T h e head very short, much compressed, not broader than the n e ck ; the front declivous, carinate. T h e
vertex crowned with four or five cirri, distinct at the base, and for two inches and a h a lf upward, they then
unite, and form a thin, taper, setaceous tail, in all nearly ten inches in length.
T h e mouth small, oblique, ascending, without lip s ; the cheeks membranous. T h e jaws extractile, without
teeth, the upper a little longer than the under. T h e tongue small, sharp pointed, smooth, free. T h e palate
smooth. Eyes large, round, not prominent, the pupil small. Nostrils double, the largest near the orbit, oval.