Volume 7, Plate XIV / Ichthyology (Fish)

Commerson’s Ambassis

Ambassis Commersoni

Inhabiting the tanks, marshes, and pools of India and the seas about Bourbon, Malabar, and Java, this handsome fish of about seven inches is relished in soups and pickled, its catching employing many inhabitants. A silvery tint overspreads the body, brownish green above and paler below with a broad shining pale central line, the preopercle doubly edged and serrated, a concealed spine before the first dorsal, and certain ribs bearing dilated oval plates.