FAMILY, I— SILUEID^. 479 



7. Callichrous pabda, Plate CXI, figs. 2 and 3. 



Silums pahda. Ham. Bach. Fish. Ganges, pp. 150, 374, t. 25, f. 47 ; Cuv. and Val. xiv, p. 364. 



Silurus anastomus, Cuv. and Val. xiv, p. 3G3, pi. 410, (tail injured). 



Silurus lamghur, Heckel, Fische Kashmir, p. 82, t. xii, f. 5, 6 ; Bleeker, Beng. p. 54. 



CalUchrus vittatus, Svrainson, Fishes, ii, p. 306. 



Wallago pabda and anastamus, Bleeker, Beng. p. 54 ; Bljth, Proc. A. S. of Beng. 1858, p. 283. 



Callichrous a7iastomus and pahda, GiJnther, Catal. v, p. 47. 



Silurichthys lamghur, Giinther, Catal. v, p. 36. 



Cryptopterus latovittatus, Playfair, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 16 (Mandibular barbels overlooked). 



Callichrous Egertonii, Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1871, p. 710. 



Pallu, Punj. ; Pabda, Beng. 



B. xii-xiv, D. 4-5, P. 1/11-13, V. 8, A. 54-60 (^^^^r), C 18. 



Length of head 5 to 5J, of caudal 8, height of body 5 to of in the total length. E?/es— diameter 5 in 

 the length of head, li to li diameters from end of snout, and 2i to 3 apart. The greatest width of the head 

 equals its length excluding the snout. The width of the gape of the mouth equals half the length of the head. 

 Lower jaw very prominent. Barbels — the maxillary reach the middle or end of the pectoral tin, the mandibular 

 to the hind edge of the orbit. Tee<7i— vomerine ones in two small oval patches, not confluent together. Fins— 

 pectoral spine as long as the postorbital portion of the head, or the head behind the middle of the eyes, serrated 

 internally, sometimes rather strongly, at other times feebly, or entirely smooth. Anal not confluent with the 

 caudal. CoZowrs— these vary considerably, usually silvery glossed with gold, having a dark shoulder spot above 

 the middle of the pectoral fin, and usually another close to the base of the tail. In some specimens the body is 

 covered with brownish blotches. At Jubbulpore I took specimens having a dark band along the upper portion 

 of the back, and a second along the lateral-liue, leaving a light line from the gill-opening to the upper portion 

 of the caudal fin. 



My reasons for uniting C. pabda (fig. 2), having a smooth pectoral spine, with C. anasfomus (fig. 3), 

 having a seri'ated one, are as follows : — the proportions and number of rays are the same. Near Bheer Bhoom 

 in the Sone river I took four specimene of C. pahda, three had smooth pectoral spines, the fourth had the 

 pectoral spine on one side feebly sercated. In the Sunderbunds* I found the two sorts together, also in the 

 Brahmaputra, the amount of serrations varying considerably. Towards the Punjab and along the Indus in 

 Sind the serrations become very well developed, and the smooth spined sorts are comparatively rare. It is 

 evident that this condition of the spine is not a sexual one, and no less evident that it is due to some local 

 peculiarity. 



Habitat.— P-an^sb in the affluents of the Indus and along that river to its termination : at Hordwar where 

 the Ganges emerges from the Himalayas and along its waters in the Gangetic provinces, and Orissa, also from 

 Darjeeling and the Brahmaputra in Assam. 



Genus, 13 — Wallago, Bleeker. 



Branchiostegals from fifteen to twenty-one. G-ill-openings wide, the membrane not being confl-uent ivith the skin 

 of the isthmus, and being rather deeply notched. Body elongated and compressed, the dorsal profile beiyig nearly 

 straight. Head covered with soft skin. Cleft of mouth deep, extending to below or even behind the eyes. Snout 

 rather produced : lower jaiv a little the longer. Nostrils some distance apart, the posterior small ami patent, the 

 anterior slightly tubular. Barbels four, one maxillary and one mandibular pairs. Eyes above the level of the angle of 

 the mouth, and not covered ivith skin. Teeth numerous and cardiform in both jaws, and in an oblique patch on either 

 side of the vomer, none on the palatines. A short spnneless dorsal, situated above or slightly before the ventrals ; no 

 adipose fin : anal long, terminating near the caudal, ivhich last consists of two rounded lobes. _ Ventrals ivith 

 from eight to eleven rays. Air-vessel heart-shaped, situated in the abdomen, and attached to the bodies of the second 

 to the fourth vertebrae : axillary pore, if pjresent, minute. 



Geographical distribution. — Fresh waters of India, Burma, and the East Indian Archipelago. 



Uses. — Good eating, and thrives well in tanks, especially if they have grassy margins. 



SYNOPSIS OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



] . Wallago attu, D. j, A. 86-93. Silvery. India and Burma. 



1. Wallago attu, Plate CXI, fig. 4. 



Silurus attu and athi, Bloch, Schneider, p. 378, t. 75. 

 Silurus, Russell, Fish. Vizag. and Wallago, ii, p. 50, pi. 165. 



Silurus boalis, Ham. Buch. Fish. Ganges, pp. 154, 375, pi. 29, f. 49 ; Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1849, 

 p. 335. 



* I have to thank the Captain of the steamer in which I travelled through the Sunderbunds for having a bag net set whenever 

 we were at anchor : it was attached to a spar fixed at right angles to the ves.sel, and sunk to about two feet below the surface. The 

 strong tides swept into it a quantity of small fish and Crustacea. The net was examined every two hours. 



