480 PETSOSTOMI. 



Silurus ivallago, Cuv. and Val. xiv, p. SS-l ; Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 18-19, p. 333. 

 Silurus asotus, Cuv. and Val. xiv, p. 358. 

 CalMchrus macrostomus, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 30G. 

 Schilhe Inalis, Sykes, Trans. Zool. Soc. ii, p. 3G8, t. 64, f. 3. 

 Silurus Mulleri, Bleeker, Verb. Bat. Gen. xxi, Silur. Consp. p. 18. 



Walldijoo Mullen and asotus, Bleeker, Nat. Tyds. Ned. Ind. iii, p. 585, and Beng. en Hind. p. 108. 

 Wallagoo Rnssellii, Bleeker, Bcng. p. 54, Prod. Silur. p. 261, and Atl. Ich. Silur. t. 86, f. 1 ; Blytb, P. A. 

 S. of B. 1858', p. 283. 



Wallagoo attu, Bleeker, Atl. Icli. Silur. p. 79 ; Giinther, Catal. v, p. 36 ; Day, Fishes of Malabar, p. 193. 

 Wah-lah, Mai. and Tarn. ; Mtd-la and Pi-i-kee and Jer-i-hee, Sind. ; Boyari, Bang. 



B. xix-xsi, D. 5, P. 1/13-15, V. 8-10, A. 86-93 (^t^,), C. 17, Vert. 13/56. 



Length of head 5 to 5i, of caudal 9, height of body 6| in the total length. Eyes — with free lids, 

 diameter 2/15 of length of bead, 2 diameters from end of snout. Width of bead rather less than its length, and 

 equals half its height. Snout rather produced. Cleft of mouth extending to about 1 diameter behind the orbit, 

 the lower jaw being slightly the longer. Barbels — the maxillary twice as long as the head, mandibular ones as long 

 as the snout. Teeth — generic. Fins — the dorsal nearly as long as the pectoral, which last equals in length the 

 depth of the cleft of the mouth. Pectoral spine finely serrated internally. Anal not confluent with the caudal, 

 which last consists of two rounded lobes. Air-vessel — of moderate size, somewhat heart-shaped, situated in the 

 trout portion of the abdomen, and attached to the anterior vertebrsB. Colours — uniform, fins sometimes covered 

 with fine dots. 



Halntat. — Throughout India, Ceylon and Burma. It attains at least sis feet in length, and is good eating, 

 but is a voracious and not very cleanly feeder. A stuffed specimen in Calcutta is 4i- feet long. 



Genus, 14 — Silurus, Artedi. 



Parasilurus ; pt. Bleeker. 



Dorsal profile nearly horizontal : head, covered with soft shin. Gill-openings vnde, the gill-membranes not 

 confliient with the shin of the isthrmis, and deeply notched, Mouth transverse. Eyes s^ibcutaneous, situated above 

 the level of the angle of the transversely placed mouth. Nostrils remote from one another. Barbels six (Silurus, 

 Bleeker) : or four (Parasiluriis, Bleeker) : one pair being maxillary, and one or two pairs mandibular. Teeth 

 aardlform or villiform in the jaws, in one or two transverse bands on the vomer, none on the palatines. One very 

 short and spineless first dorsal fin, hut no adipose one : anal terminates close to the caudal but is not usually 

 eontinuous with it: ventrals situated posterior to the dorsal, and consisting of eight or more rays. Air-vessel in the 

 abdominal cavity, not enclosed in bone. 



Geonrapihical distribution. — In India and Burma this genus is represented in the ghauts on the Western 

 coast : along the Himalayas from Afghanistan to Darjeeling also in the hills above Akyab and in the Tenasserim 

 provinces to Cochin China and bej'ond. These fishes, so far as I know, have not been recorded from waters of 

 the plains of India. 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 



A. With six barbels (Silurus.) 



1. Silurus Wynaadensis, A. 58-62. Vomerine band of teeth interrupted. Leaden, shot with purple. 

 Wynaad hills in Madras. 



B. Witli four barbels (Parasilurus'). 



2. Silurus Afgliana, A. 70-78. Vomerine band of teeth uninterrupted. Purplish brown. Himalayas 

 from Afghanistan to Darjeeling. 



3. Silurus Cochinchiiiensis, A. 62-64. Vomerine band of teeth interrupted. Leaden, shot with pui'j)le. 

 Hills above Akyab and Tenasserim, to Cochin China. 



A. With six barbels. 

 1. Silurus Wynaadensis, Plato CXI, fig. 6. 

 Silurus punctatus. Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, p. 155 (not Cantor). 

 Silurus Wynaadensis, Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1873, p. 237. 



B. xii-xiv, D. 5, P. 1/10, V. 8, A. 58-62 (573.^-0), C. 19. 



Length of head 6 to 7, of caudal 10, height of body 8 to 8 j in the total length. Eyes — small, situated 

 just above the angle of the mouth, from 2^ to 3 diameters from the end of snout, and 5 apart. The greatest 

 width of the head equals its length behind the nostrils, lower jaw slightly the shorter and rather elevated in its 

 centre. Width of the gape of the mouth equals the postorbital length of the head. A row of large open pores 

 along the lower jaw and across the cheeks. Barbels — the maxillary nearly twice as long as the head, the 

 mandibular pair on each side situated one anterior to the other at a distance equalling one diameter of the 

 orbit, both extend nearly to the base of the pectoral fin. Teeth — two oval patches on the vomer divided by a 

 short interspace. Fins — dorsal small, situated anterior to the origin of the ventral. Pectoral with a short but 



