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A Synopsis of the Fishes of China
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Plotosus anguillaris Günther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus., vol. 5, 1865, p. 24 (Amoy; China).-Wu, Contrib. Biol. Lab. Sci. Soc. China, vol. 5, No. 4, 1929, p. 53, fig. 43 (Amoy).—Fowler, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1929, p. 6o2 (Hong Kong).
Plotosus lineatus Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. 15, 1840, p. 412. Red Sea, Seychelles, Malabar, Mauritius, Trinquimale, Pondicherry, Amboina, Celebes, Friendly Islands, Society Islands, Macao, Philippines.-Richardson, Ichth. China and Japan, 1846, p. 286 (seas of China; Macao).-Jouan, Mém. Soc. Imp. Sci. Nat. Cherbourg, vol. 13, 1868, p. 270 (Hong Kong).
Canton.
Bagrus limbatus Richardson, Ichth. China and Japan, 1846, p. 283.
Plotosus arab Bleeker, Nederl. Tijdschr. Dierk., vol. 4, 1874, p. 125 (reference).-Seale, Philippine Journ. Sci., vol. 9, 1914, p. 60 (Hong Kong). Plotosus canius Bleeker, Nederl. Tijdchr. Dierk., vol. 4, 1874, p. 125 (name only).
Depth 534 to 72; head 38 to 51⁄2; snout 2 to 34 in head; eye 5 to 72; interorbital 3. Lower gill rakers 20 to 22 (rarely 16). First dorsal with spine and 4 or 5 rays, second dorsal 80 to 100; anal 68 to 75; pectoral with spine and 10 or 11 rays, spine shorter than dorsal spine. Brown, pale below. Young with 2 or 3 longitudinal whitish lines or narrow bands. Reaches 460 mm.
China, Hong Kong, Macao, Amoy.-(Red Sea, East Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, India, Ceylon, Andamans, Malay Peninsula, Siam, East Indies*, Philippines*, Tonkin, Formosa, Japan*, Australia*, Melanesia*, Polynesia*).
Family Tachysuridae.
Sea catfishes.
Body elongate, back often little elevated. Head depressed or conic. Mouth terminal or partly so. Eyes sometimes partly cutaneous, usually with free edge.
Mouth narrow or wide, transverse or crescentic, on under side of snout and upper jaw mostly prominent. Teeth in jaws villiform, conic or incisors in one or more rows, in bands or patches. Palate with villiform, conic or granular teeth, sometimes absent, Maxillary, mandibulary and mental barbels present or only maxillary and mandibulary. Nostrils close together or posterior, with valve but without barbel. Top of head covered with thin skin or conspicuous rugose bony head shields variably exposed. Gill mem- Dorsal branes united and joined with isthmus. Branchiostegal rays 5 to 9. short, with stiff or strong spine in front, premedian, between paired fins. Adipose fin shorter than dorsal. Anal below adipose fin, rays 14 to 26. Caudal forked. Pectoral lateral, rather low, with strong spine in front. Ventral median, rays 6.
A large family of tropical and subtropical fishes, mostly marine or estuarine and a few in fresh water. Some of the species are known to have the curious habit of oral gestation, in which the male fish carries the eggs
December 1932.
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