234 Records of the Indian Museum. [Vol, XIII, 



The mud of the river bed appears to be of a similar consistency, 

 but in a few places near the junction of the Biddah river there is 

 a small admixture of sand. The tidal currents run swiftly, with 

 the result that the upper layers of mud on the river bed must al- 

 ways be kept in motion and partially in suspension, the actual bot- 

 tom being perhaps almost impalpable. 



The fauna of the river bed appears to be very limited ; but, 

 though poor in species, it is abundant in individuals. The more 

 characteristic of the species obtained in our small trawl ' were the 

 following: — 



Crustacea. Fish. 



Palaemonidae. Sciaenidae. 



*Palaemon mirabilis, Kemp. Sciaena corta (Ham.-Buch.). 



*Leander styliferus, Milne-Ed- Umhrina sinuata, Day. 



wards. Trichiuridae. 



* ,, /£;««?>s, Henderson. Trichiurus haumela CFotsk.). 



Penaeidae. Gobiidae. 



Penaeopsis monoceros (Milne- Glossogobms elegans (Kuhl 



Edwards). & Hass.). 



,, brevicorms (Milne- ^., . , 

 " K 1 ' d ^ Siluridae. 



^T> A iL • jj.I'j- *Macrones£uliolU.a.m.-Buch.). 



^Farapenaeoi)sis sculptilis „ • ^ • /-r-r 



/rr 11 N Panmsius pangasius (Ham.- 



^^^^^''^- Buch.). 



-^^^H- Scopelidae. 



Kurtidae. *Harpodon nehereus, (Ham.- 



Kurtus indirus, Bloch. Buch ). 



Polynemidae. Clupeidae. 



*Polydactylus paradiseus *Coilia dussumieri, Cuv. & 



(Linn.). Val. 



Sciaenidae. Stolephorus indicus (von Has- 



Sciaena cuja (Ham.-Buch.). selt). 



The names of the more abundant species are marked with an 

 asterisk. For the identifications of the fish I am indebted to my 

 colleague Dr. B. L. Chaudhuri. 



The list may, I think, be taken as a fair sample of the bottom 

 fauna of the area examined; but the larger and more active 

 species of fish, such as Lates calcarijer, were not obtained in our 

 nets. Apart from fish and Decapod Crustacea the fauna is exces- 

 sively poor; it includes a Mysid, probably belonging to the genus 

 Gastrosaccus, and occasional Isopods, Amphipods and Polychaetes, 

 not more than one or two species of each. Young specimens of 

 Portunid crabs, Scylla serrata and Charybdis rostrata, were found 

 on a few occasions. A pecuHar Medusa, Asenathia piscaioris, An- 

 nandale,* that appears to live at or near the bottom, was also ob- 

 tained^ but was extremely scarce. 



' A beam trawl 6 feet in breadth. 



'^ Annandalc, Me>7i. Asi'at. Soc. Bengal. \'I, pp. i 14-116, text-figs. 3-5 (1917). 



