PRISTIGASTERIDAE Ilisha melastoma, 9.3 cm SL (photo by Koichi Shibukawa) Ilisha melastoma (Bloch and Schneider, 1801) Indian Ilisha D 17-18; A 35-48; P1 15-17; P2 6-7; LGR 21-25. Body compressed, moderately deep (body depth 33-42% SL); abdomen sharply keeled with prepelvic (usually 17-21) and postpelvic (usually 8-9) scutes (usually 25-30 in total). Mouth superior, lower jaw obliquely upward; upper jaw reaching a vertical through anterior margin of eye; no toothed hypomaxilla between posterior tip of premaxilla and blade of maxilla; shaft of maxilla without distinct lobe or flange between posterior tip of premaxilla and blade of maxilla. Swimbladder with 2 tubes passing posteriorly into muscles on either side of haemal spines. Scales cycloid; vertical striae continuous or overlapping. Caudal-fin lobes without extended tips, not lunate. Color: blue-green dorsally, silvery ventrally. Size: maximum 17 cm SL. Distribution: eastern Indian Ocean (from Malabar coast of India to western Indonesia) and West Pacific (southern China, including Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and western Indonesia). Remarks: found in coastal waters and estuaries. Marked fresh, dried, or boiled.