556 PHTSOSTOMI. 



B. iii, D. O-IO(^t'), p. 15, V. 9, A. 7-8(V), C. 19, L. 1. 50-57, L. tr. 10/8. 



Leno'th of head 5 to 5 J, of caudal 5, lieight of body 5 to 5^ in the total length. Eijes—i diameters in 

 the lencrth of the head, 1 diameter fi-om end of snout, and 1^ apart. Teeii/i— pharyngeal, with rather concave 

 summit^, 3, 2, 1/1, 2, 3. Fins — origin of dorsal Ls behind the insertion of the ventral, its upper edge concave : 

 caudal rath'er'deeply' forked. Lateml-Une— extends along 15 to 20 rows of scales, 4 rows between it and the 

 base of the ventral fin. CoZows— greenish along the back, becoming silvery on the sides and beneath, a 

 bricrht greenish-yellow band, di\-ides the colours of the back from a silvery line passing along the side. 



° In Cuv. and Val.'s figure the lateral-line is uninterrupted, also there are too many scales between it 

 and the base of the ventral fin. t t r 



Habitat. — (Bombay, according to Cuv. and Val.) Malabar Coast, and southern India, from the 

 Neilgherries to Madras, also Ceylon. 



Genus, 19 — Barbus, Cuvier and Valenciennes. 



Puntius, pt. Ham. Buch. : Labeobarhus, Varicorhinus, pt. Riipp. : Systomus, pt. McClell. : Capoeta, sp. 

 Cuv. and Val.: Pseudobarbus, Bie\z. : Liidobarbus, B.ec'kel: Gheiloharbm, sp. Smith: Bala.ntioclieilus,Bemibarhus, 

 CyclochelUchtJiys, Siaja, AnematicUhjs, Eypselobarbus, GomproUopterus, anathopocjon, Hampala, sp. Bleeker : 

 Enteromius, sp. Cope. 



Mouth arched, and anterior or inferior : jaws closely invested by the ?;|)s, ivMch may have leathery lobes, but 

 no horny covering* Barbels four (Barbodes, Bleeker) : or two (Capoeta, Cuv. and Val.) : or none (Puntius, H. 

 Buch.). Eyes without adipose lids. Pharyngeal teeth 5 or 4, 3 or 4, 2 or 3 | 2 or 3, 3 or 4, 4 or 5. Borsal fin 

 rather shoH, commencinq nearly opposite the root of the ventral : its last undivided ray being either ossified and 

 serrated or entire, or ai-iicidated and not osseous : anal rather short, in some species its second ray ossified, or its last 

 undivided ray may even be serrated (B. prodozyson, Bleeker). Scales large, of moderate or small size: anal 

 scales 7iot enlarged. Lateral-line may be complete, or incomplete,^ when the former it is continued to opposite the 

 centre of the base of the caudal fin. 



This most extensive Genus has been subdivided by various authors into numerous genera and sub-genera, 

 but, passins- gradually one into another, they have in the majority of instances failed to be permanently 

 accepted. The three sub-genera of those with 4, 2, or barbels are useful and apparently correct, for the 

 occasional abnormal absence of one or more of these appendages in fish which are so extensively kept m an 

 artificial state in tanks, does not appear sufficient reason why such natural subdivisions should be excluded from 

 Ichthyological systems. 



It is remarkable how very similar the Barbus Mahicola, C.V. which has 2 barbels, is to the B.filamen- 

 tosus, C.V. with none. If a number of examples are examined it will be found that in some these appendages 

 are verv minute, the barbels being, as a rule, smallest in specimens obtained furthest from the hills. In South 

 Canara, the Wynoad, and base of the Neilgherries, where the barbels are large, the B. Mahicola abounds : to\vards 



species, „. „..^ .- „ ., _- -- - , ^ , ....,, 



punetatiis and B. phutunio are often exactlv similar, but in the immature form the farst retains its original colour, 

 not so the second. Barbus chola and B. tetrarupugus are similar, except as to the presence of a black spot behind 

 the oiiercle in the latter : whilst Barbus ticto shows considerable variations. Great changes evidently occur m 

 some species if they are removed to another locality, thus Barbus conchonius, which has been imported from the 

 plains and introduced into the jSTainee tal lake is evidently losing the serrature of its dorsal spme, m time, if 

 this change goes on, the species will become more like B. terio than the original form. 



The m.ajority of those species which constitute the sub-genns Barbodes (4 barbels), provided they are 

 soberly coloured, attain a large size: the brilliant coloured ones are mostly residents of clear and rapid 

 mountain streams or rivers contiguous to hills and are generally small. A strong dorsal spine is usually (if not 

 invariably) a sign that the species is one that lives in the vicinity of high mountains up the streams of which it 

 ascends to breed, an exception, however, has to be made of those forms having serrated dorsal spines, and which 

 are usually residents of waters of tlie plains. Considerable individual variations exist as to the comparative 

 lengtli and size of the dorsal spine, as a rule it increases in strength La the adult. In immature examples the 

 last undivided dorsal ray may appear to be articulated in the young, although it is osseous m the adult. 



Species of the sub-genus Capoeta (2 barbels) never attain the size reached by many of the Barbodes : 

 some, more especially when residing in mountam streams, have vivid colours. The species of the sub-genus 

 Puntius are mostly of small size, whilst a few are brilliantly coloured. 



Amongst these sub-genera a most natural subdivision appears to be into those with the last undivided 

 dorsal ray oss'eous and serrated or smooth, or others in which the bony element is absent : whilst even further 

 subdivisions are easily made, if desired, into whether the fin rays are elongated, or the lateral-lme is complete 

 or incomplete. 



* Barhus lithopidns U an cxcciitinn. i • i 



t In conntin.' the numbers of rows of scales between the lateriil-linc and insertion of the ventral fin, such is done in 

 species in whiih the former is iucimplete, from the row of scales on which the lateral-liue would have existeJ had it been completed. 



