1916.] B. SuNDARA Raj: Freshwater Fish of Madras. 275 
tions of the median embryonic fin, but the mid-lateral line is free 
of pigment and is consequently traversed by a pale longitudinal 
band, which later on acquires a bright golden-yellow hue. There 
is also a more or less uninterrupted pale longitudinal band in the 
mid-dorsal line of the head and fore-body. 
The larval colours when fully assumed are as follows :—The 
body is dark olive along the back and sides, becoming slightly pale 
or whitish along the abdomen. ‘This dark ground colour is re- 
solvable into close-set longitudinal stripes along the scales, clearly 
seen in specimens preserved in spirit. Three longitudinal golden- 
yellow bands pass from the snout to the caudal fin; a mid-lateral 
band on each side which becomes narrow as it passes over the 
opercle and the upper portion of the eye to meet its fellow on the 
tip of the snout, and a narrow median dorsal band extending from 
the junction of the above two bands on the tip of the snout, along 
the base of the dorsal fin to the root of the caudal. These three 
bands are of a brilliant golden-yellow colour and stand out clearly 
on the dark ground colour; while the two lateral bands extend 
on the caudal fin to the extent of nearly one-third the length of 
that fin; the dorsal band, which is comparatively narrow and is 
more distinct in younger than in older stages, has two spindle- 
shaped enlargements in front of the dorsal fin (fig. 22). Thus the 
fry of O. punctatus are easily distinguished from the fry of O. striatus 
after they assume their characteristic larval colour. 
In growth the dorsal median band is the first to disappear. 
In specimens above two inches in length the dark olive brown of 
the back and sides changes to a dirty brown, and a double row 
of ill-defined brown blotches appear on either side of the body 
one above the other, the blotches of the upper row aiternating 
with those of the lower. These blotches encroach on the lateral 
golden bands and disfigure and destroy it in growth; the three 
golden bands are, however, retained for some considerable time on 
the head. 
The parents guard the young till they reach two inches in 
length, 7z.e., till they lose their larval colours. It is quite a sight 
to see the parents leading their brood of brightly coloured fry in 
bright sunlight in shallow water in fields ,! where they usually come 
out to feed. 
Uses.—O. punctatus is extensively eaten. 
Ophiocephalus gachua, H. B. 
(Pi xeeviehe 23). 
Tamil— Para koravai. 
Habitat and Habits.—This very common species is found in 
ponds but much more abundantly in rivers, where it often fre- 
quents brackish water within tidal influence. 

1 Willey, Spol. Zeylan., V, p. 149. 
