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Depth 13 to 134; head 234 to 24/5; snout 2 1/5 to 2% in head; cyc 4 1/5 to 42, 18 to 2 in snout, 1% to 14 in interorbital; interorbital 3 to 4 1/5. Gill rakers 11 to 15+23. Scales 62 to 65 in lateral line, 38 to 42 predorsal. Dorsal rays 15, anal 14 to 17. below. Median dusky predorsal line. Neutral to middle of caudal base. Beak neutral dusky. and caudal tinged dusky. Length 313 mm.
Brown above and white gray band from shouler Fins pale brown, dorsal
Figure 14. Hemiramphus georgii Valenciennes.
BWF
China, Hong Kong*, Amoy.-(Mauritius, Seychelles, India, Malacca, East Indies, Philippines*, Formosa, Micronesia*).
ZENARCHOPTERUS Gill.
Fresh water Half Beaks.
Zenarchopterus Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1863, p. 273. Type Hemiramphus dispar Valenciennes, orthotypic.
Body elongate, more or less compressed. Lower jaw prolonged in long beak, with fine feeble conic teeth only opposite short upper jaw; beak bordered by 3 more or less conspicuous folds of skin, one median begins on chin and one on each edge. Gill rakers well developed. Scales of back overlap each other in two directions. Lateral line low. Dorsal fin far post- Male often with some median, begins little before anal, which shorter.
dorsal rays produced and some anal rays much enlarged, broadened and articulations increased, also many fine secondary rays may occur. Caudal Pectoral inserted high. Ventral nearer round or truncate, never forked. caudal than head.
Rivers and estuaries of the Indo Pacific, species numerous. Viviparous.
HWF
Figure 15. Zenarchopterus ectuntio (Buchanan-Hamilton), Zenarchopterus ectuntio (Buchanan-Hamilton). Figure 15.
Esox ectuntio Buchanan-Hamilton, Fishes of Ganges, 1822, pp. 212,
380. Smaller rivers and ponds of Gangetic provinces.
Hemiramphus amblyurus Steindachner, Sitz. Akad. Wiss. Wien, vol. 55, pt. 1, 1867, P. 592 (Hong Kong).
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A Synopsis of the Fishes of China
Zenarchopterus amblyurus Chu, Biol. Bull. St. John's Univers., No. 1, January 1931, p. 87 (compiled).
Depth 11 to 13; head 2 to 2; lower jaw (beyond tip of snout)
3 to 4 to caudal base; eye over 2 in postorbital, little less than interorbital; triangular upper jaw nearly twice long as wide. Scales 48 to 50 in lateral line, Dorsal rays 13; anal 10; pectoral 8; ventral 6; caudal obtusely rounded. Brownish, with silvery lateral band, especially conspicuous below dorsal and on tail. Fins pale. Length 180 mm,
Hong Kong. (India, Burma, Siam, East Indies*, North Australia?).
Family Exocoetidae.
Flying Fishes.
Body oblong or moderately long. Head with vertical sides. Mouth moderate, terminal. Jaws not prolonged in a beak, except in some very young (Fodiator). Premaxillaries not protractile, with straight transverse front edge. Upper jaw edge chiefly formed by premaxillaries and short maxillaies with lateral edge. Maxillary free from or merely adherent to premaxillary, its edge slipping below front of preorbital. Teeth various, villiform, small or weak. Nostrils large, double, near eye. Gill mem- branes not united, free from isthmus. Gill rakers various. Gills 4, slit behind fourth. Pseudobranchiae hidden, glandular. Vertebrae 44 to 52. Air bladder very large, not celluluar, extends far back among projections (haemopophyses) from caudal vertebrae. Shoulder girdle and pectoral Scales deciduous, cycloid, rather large. Head more
muscle very strong.
or less scaly. Lateral line very low, near lower edge of body. Dorsal posterior, opposite and similar to anal. No finlets. Caudal forked, lower lobe longer. Pectoral large, inserted high, used as organ of flight. Ventral abdominal, of several soft rays, inserted posteriorly.
In some
These fishes readily known by their long pectoral fins. (Evolantia) the pectorals are short. In many species the ventrals are also Carnivorous and herbivorous, living in all prolonged to assist in flight. warm scas, mostly pelagic, swimming near the surface and skipping or sail- ing through the air sometimes for considerable distances. Much discussion as to the flight of these fishes has been published in very numerous papers, Their motive power is due to the action of the strong tail while in the water. The fish suddenly leaping out are planed "by their pectorals extended like a parachute rather than as wings, so that the fish may finally slip back or fall into the water, sometimes with a splash. Every gradation from the leaping or scuttling along the surface, as with the green gars and balaos to the most bird like flight, may be encountered among the members of this group of fishes or their allics. Many of the flying fishes are excellent
food fishes.
Synopsis of the Genera.
a1. Ventrals short, not reaching anal.
b'. Pectoral short, not reaching beyond middle of dorsal.
PAREXOCOETUS.
The Hong Kong Naturalist.
December 1932.
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