i64 FAUNA AND FLORA OF PALESTINE. 



ORDER, ACANTHOPTERYGII PHARYNGOGNATHI. 



FAMILY, CHROMID.^. 



The Chromidoe are the most characteristic and abundant of all the 

 amazingr multitude of fishes with which the Lake of Galilee teems. No 

 less than eight species are now known from its waters, five brought 

 home by me in 1S64, prior to which date no fishes from the Jordan 

 valley had been identified ; and to these, three new species have since 

 been added by the researches of Dr. Lortet. 



8. Chromis niloticus. (Hasselquist. Reise. in Palestina, p. 392.) 



Plate XVIII. Fig. i. 



D. i^, A. ^, V. -, P. 14. L. lat. 34. 

 12 9 5 ^ ^ 



This fish is one of the most abundant species in the whole of the 

 Jordan basin, especially in smooth water and deep pools, though it is not 

 in nearly such prodigious numbers as the following species. It abounds 

 in the Lake Huleh, and in the Lake of Gennesaret, as well as in the 

 river itself. It is equally common in the Nile, and in all its canals, and 

 is known as Bolti in Egypt, and as JMoiicJit by the fishermen of Tiberias. 



It can easily be recognised from the following species by its blackish- 

 grey colour, and by its caudal fin convex and not concave, as in Ch. 

 tiberiadis, by the white spots on its dorsal fin, and by its forehead retiring 

 instead of conve.x and prominent, as in its congener. 



All these Chromida are frequently found with their eyes extracted, and 

 their foreheads pierced by the Grebes, which prey on them, but they seem 

 to thrive perfectly well in spite of this mutilation, and to flourish in a state 

 of absolute blindness. Such specimens may often be seen in the market. 



9. Chromis tiberiadis. Lortet. Poiss et Rept. du lac de Tiberiade, 

 p. n, pi. vi. 



D.{^,A. ^V. i, P. 13. L. lat. 33-34. 



This fish, peculiar to the Jordan and its affluents alone, is found in the 

 most amazing numbers from the Lake Huleh to the head of the Dead 



