tongue and palate smooth. Eyes middle, in respect to the mouth; moderate size, orbicular. Nostrils double,
distant from the orbit. Opercula polished, s ilv ery; tlie branchial membrane exposed.
T h e trunk. T h e back gen tly arched; the breast and be lly declivous to the ventral fin, whence the hinder
part ascended circularly to the ta il; botli were thin and carinated ; the sides much compressed. T h e lateral
line rising from the acuminate edge o f the operculum, was liardly bent, and terminated unusually at the upper
edge o f the tail. T lie anus nearly middle.
T h e Jins were all simple, and in other respects differ remarkably from others o f this genus. T h e first
twenty rays o f the dorsal, slender, and declined gradually, the last twenty five nearly equal in length, capilla-
ceous, and hardly connected by an y membrane. T h e pectoral fins situated close to the branchial apertures, o f
moderate length, and the rays declined from the upper p a r t ; the single ventrical fin, close to the anus, had two
setaceous rays united, nearly two inches in length, with four very short capillary r a y s ; the anal consisted o f
tliirty-four short pinnulae, fringing, as it were, the posterior lower edge o f the fish; the caudal fin deeply bifid,
T lie colour o f the back leaden, with several rows o f dark spots o f various size s ; below which, the sides and
belly roughly silverized, resembling the back o f a mirror, but the colour, on handling adheres to the finger.
T h e head and opercula are also silvery, but burnished.
T lie length four inches, the breadth three.
Not being acquainted, when in India, with the Zeus insidiator, which appears to have been described and
transmitted from India b y D r . K o e n ig ; and o f which a figure has been given by Bloch ;* I was a t a loss to
wh a t genus to refer the present subject, and the seven fishes following, all which agree in the singular construction
o f the jaws , with the Insidiator, though differing widely in other respects.
T h e Zeus ore angusto o f Bloch, (Insidiator Gm el. Linn. p. 12 2 1 ) has seven branchial ossicles, and the fins
have some spinous r a y s : it is, besides, a fresh-water fish. T h e present subject has only five branchial ossicles,
no spinous rays in the fins, and, as well as the rest following, are caught in the sea.
T h e affinity o f all, however, in the protrusion o f the jaws , and (the present and another excepted) in the
similitude in shape to others o f this genus, has procured them a place h e re : at least for the present.
No. LXI.
Z eus corpore rhomheo, squamoso; cauda bijida; sp inisdorsalibusocto; membrana p in n a dorsalis
antice macula insignita.
T h e Z eus w ith a r h om b ic , sq uamous b o d y ; a fo rk ed ta il; e ig h t sp in e s in th e d o rsal fin,
a n d th e fore p a rt o f th e m em b ran e m a rk e d w i th a larg e sp o t.
C a lled b y th e N a tiv e s G o o m o r a h K a r a h .
J _ _L
B . \ y . D . 2 4 . P . 1 5 . V. 6 . A . 1 7 . C. 1 8 .
T h e body broad-ovate, or somewhat rhomb-form, much compressed, thin, resplendent; scales extremely small,
close, tenacious.
T h e head declivous, broad thin, without scales, polished; front a little depressed; crown carinate, rostrum
obtuse.
T h e mouth small, but the maxillje so constructed, as to render it extractile and retractile, in an uncommon
degree. T h e re were no lips. T h e cheeks composed o f fine, glassy, membranes, and the tliiii cartilages
•PI. J92,
extendino- them being perfectly white, gave to the whole, when protruded far beyond the rostrum, a tubular
appearance, pellucid, glistening.
T ee th minute, perceptible only to the finger. T ongu e short, round, smooth, free. Palate smooth. Eyes
supreme very large, orbicular, not prominent ; iris pearl. Nostrils double, close on the rostrum, the posterior
largest. Branchial opercula smooth, oblong-rounded, the posterior a little acuminate; the membrane covered,
four-rayed; aperture small.
Th e trunk. T lie back arched, carinate, the sides much compressed ; the breast sub-carinate, the belly arched,
the tail small, thin. T h e exterior branchiæ pectinate, on the inside. Lateral line, from the upper edge o f the
opercula, gen tly arched, and ending at the middle ray o f the caudal fin. T h e anus nearer the head than
the tail.
T h e ^ « i. T h e dorsal rising from the highestpart o f the back, was continued to near the caudal fin; it consisted
o f eight declining, spinous, rays, (the first excepted, which was very short,) and sixteen ramous rays
nearly equal in length, resembling united pinnulæ. T h e pectoral fin middle, short, acuminate above. T h e
ventral shorter, with one spinous, and five ramous rays. T h e anal o f the same form as the dorsal, but shorter,
with one short, and two longer spines. T h e caudal bifid, the lobes sub-lanceolate.
T h e colour. T h e upper part o f the head o f a greenish ye llow; all the rest, as well as the trunk, a shining
white, changing in different lights like mother o f pearl. T h e fins a pale y e llow ; and there was an irregular
black spot on the middle of the dorsal fin.
T h e length o f the subject five inches and a half ; and it is seldom they are met with o f greater length.
No. LXII.
Z e u s corpore rhombeo, squamoso; cauda biloba; spinis dorsalibus mollibus septem.
T h e Z e u s w ith a rh om b ic , sq uamous b o d y ; a tail d iv id e d in to two u n e q u a l lo b es ; an d
sev en soft dorsal sp in es.
Called b y th e N a tiv e s T o t t a h K a r a h .
B . y . D . i l . P . 1 7 . F . t A . \ i . C . 2 4 .
T h i s pisciculus agrees in most circumstances so exactly with the one immediately preceding, that it may
suffice to mention the few in which they differ.
T h e eyes are smaller, and not so h ig h ; the lateral line forms a higher arch, and terminates near the upper
edge (not at the middle) o f the caudal fin ; the spines o f the dorsal fin are slender; the pectoral fins situated
low er; and the caudal is divided into two unequal lobes, the under being broadest.
T h e colour a bright silver, with a few pale yellow bands on the sides. The dorsal, ventral, and anal fins,
orange at the roots ; above, g la s s y ; the pectoral and caudal glassy, with a faint cast o f y e llow at the edges.
Th e length, o f the subject nine inches ; wiiich was an uncommon large size, as they seldom exceed seven.
This fish when dressed tastes like the whiting. Tw o inches is their common size. T h e y are caught, like the
former, in vast numbers, and cured for the use of the inland countries.
. 1 '' ’
A