FAMILY V— CTPRIXID^. 553 



B. iii, D. 19-21 (T-j^Tir)> P- 1^. V. 9, A. 8(f), C. 19, L. 1. 27-29, L. tr. 61110, Vert. 18/13. 



The gold carp is too well known to require any detailed description. 



The almost endless deformities into which, due to domestication, this species has degenerated, may be 

 briefly defined as follows. Vertebral column only deformed : fins also abnormal, the dorsal being decreased or 

 even absent : the anal spine double : caudal enlarged and with three or four lobes. Occasionally the eyes are 

 protruding. As I doubt whether this fish has ever been found wild in India, I have not considered it 

 necessary to give a figure or its numerous synonyms. 



Hahital. — Mr. Masters, according to Dr. Giinther, sent three adult specimens from Bombay to the 

 British Museum, still I suspect they were not captured wild in India, the nearest point where tliey are 

 obtained in a state of nature, being high up in Upper Burma, or rather within the borders of China, from 

 whence Dr. J. Anderson brought examples. 



Genus, 16 — Catl.4, Cuvier and Valenciennes. 



Gihelion, Heckel ; Hypseloharbus, Bleeker. 



Head hroad : snout with very thin integuments, upper lip absent, the lower moderately thicJc, having a 

 continuous and free posterior margin. The lower jaw with a moveable artictdation at the syr>iphysis, bid destitute of 

 any prominent tubercle. No barbels. Gill raJcers long, fine, and closely set. Eyes with free orbital margins. 

 Pharyngeal teeth plough-shaped, 5, 3, 2 | 2, 3, 5. Dorsal fin rather long, without osseo^ls ray, it commences 

 somewhat in advance of the ventrals : anal short: caudal forked. Scales of moderate size, no tiled row along the base 

 of the anal fin. Lateral-line continuous to the centre of the base of the caudal fin. 



Geographical distribution,. — This fish appears to be absent from Southern India, below the Kistna at 

 Masulipatara : it is found in Sind, the Punjab, also in the N. W. Provinces, the Deccan, and tiiroughout Bengal, 

 Assam, and Burma as far as the Pegu river. It is said not to exist in Tenasserim, but is present in 

 Siam. 



SYNOPSIS OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 

 1. Catla Buchanani, D. 17-19, A. 8, L. 1. 40-43, L. tr. 7|/9. 



1. Catla Buchanani, Plate CXXXIV, fig. 5. 



Cyprinus catla. Ham. Buch. Fishes of Ganges, pp. 287, 318, 387, pi. 13, f. 81; McClelland, Ind. Cvp. pp. 

 275, 348 ; Cuv. and Val. xvi, p. 433. 



Leuciscus catla, Val. in Bel. Voy. Ind. Orient, p. 379, pi. 3, f. 2. 



Catla Buchanani, Cuv. and Val. xvii, p. 411, pi. 615 ; Bleeker, Verb. Bat. Gen. xxv, Beng. en Hind, 

 p. 142 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 34 ; Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869, p. 370. 



Cyprinus abramioides, Sykes, Trans. Zool. Soc. ii. p. 363, pi. 61, f. 2. 



llypselobarbus (Tambra) abramioides, Bleeker, Pro. Cyp. p. 275. 



Botchee, Telugu : Catla, Bengal, Hind, and Punj. : Barkur, Ooriah: Nga-thaing, Burmese: Tambra, 

 Hind, in Bombay : Boassa, Hind, in N. W. Provinces : Tay-lee, Sind. 



B. iii, D. 17-19 (Tt:fa)> P- 21, V. 9, A. 8 (|), C. 19, L. 1. 40-43, L. tr. 7|/9, Vert. 17/18. 



Length of head 4|- to 4|, of caudal 4j to 4J, height of body 3 to 3^ in the total length. Eyes — in the 

 anterior half of the length of the head, diameter 6 to 7 in the length of the head, 2 diameters from the end of 

 the snout, and 3 apart. Dorsal jirotile much more convex than that of the abdomen. The greatest width of 

 the head equals its length behind the middle of the eyes. Mouth wide, lower jaw prominent : in large 

 specimens some pores on the snout. Teeth — pharyngeal, plough-shaped, 6, 3, 2 | 2, 3, 5. Fins — dorsal 

 commences in advance of the ventrals, is 2/3 as high as the body, and with a concave upper edge. Pectoral 

 extends to the ventral, and the latter, in males, to the anal. Anal laid flat, reaches to beyond the 

 commencement of the caudal. The fins in some specimens are much elongated. Lateral-line — from 5^ to 6-| 

 rows of scales between it and the base of the ventral fin. Colours — grayish above, becoming silvery on the sides 

 and beneath. Fins dark coloured, in some specimens nearly black. 



This fish is largely employed for stocking tanks. In May, 1875, Mr. Mitchell had a tank 65 x 58 feet 

 and 13 feet deep, dug upon his ground at Garden Beach, near Calcutta ; into it were put some fry of this 

 species, from 1/2 to 1 inch or less in length. September 22nd it was netted, and several dozens captured, one 

 of the largest weighing 14 oz. and measuring 11 inches in length : the others were 1 or 2 oz. lighter. (Nature, 

 Dec. 9th, 1876, p. 107). 



Habitat.- — Sind, Punjab, through India to the Kistna, and eastwards through Bengal, and Burma to 

 Siam. It attains at least 6 feet in length, and is much esteemed as food when not exceeding 2 feet, larger 

 ones are coarse. It resides in fresh or brackish water, being found within tidal influence. " It is a very strong 

 active animal, and often leaps over the seine of the fishermen, on which account, when fishing for the Catla, 

 they usually fellow the net in canoes, and make a noise by shouting and splashing with their paddles." (Ham. 

 Buchanan). It is said never to take a bait, but as it rises at natural flies, it could probably be taken with 

 artificial ones. 



4 B 



