Peels NO Bion © New Hib PR SEW AT ER 
FTSA9O2 (EAD R AS. 
By B. SUNDARA Raj, M.A., Fishertes Bureau, Madras. 
(Plates XXV—XXIX.) 
INTRODUCTION. 
The following notes, necessarily imperfect, on the habits, 
spawning season and early stages of some of the Madras fresh- 
water fish, are based mainly on investigations made during Igto-I1, 
the results of which were embodied in a dissertation which was 
submitted to the University of Madras in 1912. The enquiry, 
however, was continued in subsequent years amidst other work, 
and consequently the original paper has been considerably modi- 
fied as the result of additions and corrections made in the light of 
further research and study. 
Though a number of notes on the habits of Indian freshwater 
fish have appeared from very early times, they are comparatively 
few and most of them are at best random observations. Inthe 
following pages an attempt has been made to combine all that is 
known regarding the habits and early stages of the fish in question 
(by a fairly exhaustive though by no means complete reference to 
previous literature) with facts personally observed and recorded for 
the first time in this paper. Only such observations from pre- 
viously published accounts as are likely to be of general interest 
have been included and duly acknowledged. They have been 
gathered for the most part from the writings of Hamilton Bucha- 
nan, Sir E. Tennent, Cantor, Jerdon, Day, Thomas and especially 
Dr. Willey, whose observations on the breeding habits of Ophio- 
cephalus striatus and accounts of the nests, eggs and fry of some 
other species in his report on the inland fisheries of Ceylon are sub- 
stantial contributions to our knowledge of the spawning habits 
of Indian freshwater fish. 
The local limits of my collection and observation are defined 
by the title of this paper, my examination being confined to the 
rivers Cooum and Adyar and to the ponds within the municipal 
limits of the city of Madras, and in a few cases being extended to 
some large outlying tanks such as Sembarambakkam and Red 
Hills. The Red Hills, some seven miles west of Madras, is a large 
perennialtank, while Sembarambakkam, about ten miles from the 
city, is the largest irrigation tank in this neighbourhood, but runs 
dry during the hot weather. The ponds within the city limits are 
of the usual type and require no special consideration ; nearly all of 
