CO129-554-6 Hong Kong University- 1. Appointment of Dr. Chen Shas Yi as head of Chinese Department... 18-3-1935 - 28-10-1935 — Page 67

A Synopsis of the Fishes of China

Atherina bleekeri Günther.

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Atherina bleckeri Günther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., vol. 3, 1868, p. 398. China.-Scale, Philippine Journ. Sci., vol. 9, 1914, p. 60 (Hong Kong). -Reeves, Journ. Pan Pac. Res. Inst., vol. 2, No. 3, July-September 1927, p. 8 (name). Chu, Biol. Bull. St. John's Univ., No. 1, January 1931, p. 103 (reference).

Atherina japonica (not Houttuyn) Bleeker, Nederl. Tyds. Dierk., vol. 4, 1873 (1874), p. 142 (reference).

Deph 534; head 42. Snout 4 in head; eye 3; maxillary 234. Lower gill rakers 19 Scales 45, transversely 7, predorsal 20. Dorsal V or VI- 1, 9 or I, 10; Anal I, 11 to I, 13. Lateral silvery band present, dark above. Scales of back broadly edged blackish or dusky. Top of head and snout tip dusky. Ventral and anal colourless. Length 130 mm.

China, Hong Kong (Japan).

(Jordan and Starks.)

Family Mugilidae.

The Grey Mullets.

Body oblong, more or less compressed. Mouth small. Jaws with small feeble teeth or none, when present of various form. Premaxillaries protractile. Gill openings wide, membranes separate and free from isthmus. Gills 4, slit behind fourth. Gill rakers long, slender. Pseudobranchiae large. Branchiostegals 5 or 6. Air bladder large, simple. Intestinal canal long. Peritoneum usually black. Vertebrae 24. Scales rather large, cycloid. No lateral line, but furrows often deepened on middle of cach scale so as to form lateral streaks. Two short dorsals, well separated, first of 4

stiff spines and last much shorter than others. Second dorsal longer than first, like anal. Anal spines 2 or 3, graduated to last. Ventrals abdominal, not far back, of spine and 5 rays.

Small or moderate sized fishes, valued as food, living in fresh waters. and on the coasts of warm countries. They feed on organic matter contained in mud.

a1. No true teeth in jaws.

Synopsis of the Genera.

Mugil.

a2. Single series of small teeth in upper jaw; lower jaw with sharp front

margin.

Myxus.

MUGIL Linnaeus. Grey Mullets.

Mugil Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, pt. 1, 1758, p. 316. Type Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, monotypic.

Body oblong, rather robust or somewhat compressed. Eye large. Adipose eyelid large, when present nearly conceals eye; little developed in young. Mouth small, partly inferior, lower jaw angulated. Jaws with one or few series of short flexible ciliiform teeth; less developed in young. No vomerine or palatine teeth. Preorbital usually entire, more serrate in young,

July 1935.

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