72 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN VOL. XV, 



The work was carried on vigorously until the Government of 

 Madras decided, in May 1921, not to maintain a Marine Biologist ; 

 hence a sudden rounding off in the work was necessary, and a 

 series of further confirmatory examinations of the material, and 

 comparisons with mullets from elsewhere was made impossible. 

 The present paper is therefore scarcely as complete as I could have 

 wished, but my endeavour has been to describe the various species 

 in such a way that any one who desires to know them may, at a 

 glance, assign a specimen to its place ; this in particular for Fish- 

 eries officers. In addition, points have been given which involve 

 more than a mere cursory examination on the beach, and it is hoped 

 that these will be found useful for zoologists interested in these 

 fishes. 



I desire here to mention that I have received much courteous 

 help from Dr. B. L. Chaudhuri of the Zoological Survey of India, who 

 has kindly given his opinion on several occasions ; a debt of 

 gratitude I also owe 10 the sub-assistants lately working in my 

 office at Tuticorin, in particular to Mr. Jayaram Nayudu who has 

 given much care to the selection of fishes from catches, and sup- 

 plied points concerning the methods of fishing which may have 

 escaped me. 



SILAVATTURAI LAGOON. 



The Silavatturai Lagoon is a sheet of shallow water, only in a 

 few places more than four feet deep at low tide; it is roughly 

 rectangular, about 1,750 yards long and 600 yards broad, extending 

 in a northerly direction, with two openings to the sea facing south- 

 east. The floor of the lagoon is for the greater part of soft dark 

 mud ; there is little vegetation found, and that in one part only. 



All fishing in the lagoon is under the control of Government, 

 and apart from the fishing conducted by men employed by the 

 Fisheries Department, outsiders are allowed to fish under certain 

 conditions. Mullets are the commonest of the more valuable fish 

 found there, and during the month of October large numbers of 

 mullets, a little over one centimetre long, are to be found at the 

 water's edge, and in the small channels leading from the main 

 sheet of water. 



For some time (September T919 to March 1920) the lagoon was 

 closed at the entrance, and a controlling sluice built, with the inten- 

 tion of converting the lagoon into a fish farm; but the experiment 

 was abandoned owing to extensive damage caused by an excep- 



