Cochercll — The Scales of the African Cyprinid Fishes. 149 



the typical section nf the genus, inhabiting southwestern Asia; hu\ 

 it lias the enlarged dorsal ray neither feel)leas in C. fundulns I'all. 

 and allied species, nor serrated as in C. tnitfa Heck." 



C. (liUonii is now i)laced by Ur. Boulenger in the synonymy of 

 T'. heso. Upon conii)aring the scales of 1^ tanrjanicx with those 

 of Asiatic Capo'Ha, I find a very marked resemblance. Caporla 

 fi(7uhilus (Knra River, St. Peters) mrg ^Museum) has scales closely 

 like those of T'. tangauiav in size, sculpture and consistency, but 

 broader, with the apical radii strong and not wavy. C. stein- 

 dachneri, Kessl, is rather more modified, tiie scales l)eing longer 

 than broa<], with strong laterobasal angles, and the sul)ai)ical cir- 

 culi forming strong o])lique ridges. The scales of C. ( Gnatliupogoii ) 

 gracilis are clo.se to those of T"". tanganicx, but the apical radii are 

 stronger, and the tuliercles formed l)y the circuli l)etween them are 

 large. 



All things considered, V. ianganiar does seem to stand apai't 

 from true Varicorhinus, and shows some atRnity with Capo'Ha. It 

 may therefore be taken as the type of a new sul»genus Acai-oeta. 



(!i. ) Discognathus. A genus of southern Asia and northeast Africa, 

 especially found in torrents and mountain rivers, having a more or 

 less developed suctorial disc on the chin. The skin is usually 

 thick, and is always be.set with numerous minute jjigment dots; in 

 D. johnstonii these are rather larger and very den.se, producing a 

 sort of line marbling. According to Day, typical Discognathus f)f 

 ITeckel, which T have not seen, has only one pair of barbels. The 

 Indian and African species have two pairs, and go in the subgenus 

 Garra Ham. Buch. The only Asiatic species I have examined is 

 D. lamta from Harnai, Afghanistan {F. Dug). This has sub- 

 quadrate scales, broader than long (about (i nun. long and (\% 

 broad), the apical half covered by the yellow skin. Laterobasal 

 angles evident but obtuse ; basal and lateral circuli very fine; apical 

 radii excessively line and immerous, only about 70 to !I0 /tx ai)art, 

 giving the idea that they may be merely coarse longitudinal 

 circuli, but the remains of the true apical circuli (following the 

 line of evolution initiated ])y Varicorhinus) are visible as rounded 

 tubercles between the radii; ])asal radii irregular and poorly 

 developed, as in allied forms. This scale can easily be recognized 

 as an extreme mollification of the Varicorhinus type. The ajiical 

 tubercles (remains of circuli) are suggestive of those found in 

 Capoi'ta gracilis though of course they are much smaller. 



The four African species of Discognathus seen by me have .smaller 

 and broader scales (4 mm. broad and ;^> long in D. johnstonii, the 

 others a little smaller). 



D. hlanfordii. Jerrer IJiver, near Harrar (7?. 7>('r/e/0. Formerly 

 confused with D. lamta, with which the scale agrees in all impor- 

 tant features. The basal radii are fairly numerous, hut very 

 irregular. 



