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when fully grown ; it is tolerant of changes in salinity and 

 exhibits great partiality for backwaters and estuaries. 

 For these reasons it is indicated as a species well adapted 

 for rearing in confinement. The larger polynemids are 

 essentially predatory fishes. They are the special and 

 particular enemies of mullet, following them into back- 

 waters and penetrating far up tidal rivers in the pursuit. 

 Some species enter rivers and backwaters for spawning 

 purposes ; as with the mullets, there should be no diffi- 

 culty in obtaining fertilised ova for artificial hatching. 



Provided sufficient supplies of suitable food be present 

 or procurable, polynemids should be found to be among 

 the three most profitable kinds of fish available in India 

 for fish-farming. They grow rapidly, attain a large size, 

 are tolerant of the variability characterizing backwater 

 life-conditions, and are obtainable as fry in the requisite 

 abundance ; finally, when put upon the market they will 

 always command a ready sale at prime fish prices whether 

 fresh or smoked. 



The White pomfret {Stromateus sinensis) is another 

 of the highly valued Indian food fishes which it may be 

 found possible to utilize for pond culture. The young 

 are said to frequent estuaries and it is probable that they 

 would bear confinement well. They feed largely upon 

 small crustaceans, worms and the like, and their food 

 supply should not present any serious difficulties. At 

 present their breeding habits are little known and we 

 cannot go further than express the opinion that the 

 probabilities are that their eggs should be readily obtain- 

 able for artificial hatching purposes and that the fry are 

 likely to thrive well in backwater ponds. Experiments 

 must be undertaken to ascertain the most suitable 

 conditions under which successful culture on a large scale 

 may become possible. 



Were the present Madras Aquarium capable of 

 accommodating a small fish-hatchery consisting either of 

 batteries of Macdonald jars or Dannevig oscillating 

 boxes, the necessary facilities for this and other investi- 

 gations would be available at a very low cost ; unfortu- 

 nately when the building was designed no provision for 

 this purpose was included and it will now be necessary 

 to build a separate hatchery with observation tanks, etc., 

 for the conduct of fishery experiments. 



