1916, B. SuNDARA Raj: Freshwater Fish of Madras. 279 
910. 
Madras, it is entirely absent from others. ‘‘ It breeds everywhere 
during the rains and has in some instances been found breeding as 
early as March.’’ ! 
Uses.—A small species which is said to be an effective mos- 
quito-destroyer.” 
Ambassis ambassis (Lacepede). 
(A. commersont of the Fauna of Brit. India.) 
Tamil.-——-A une Kakachi. 
The occurrence of this species in fresh water is very rare and 
occasional. 
Ambassis miops, Gunther. 
(Bl =xvilicnesa 242), 
(Ambassis myops of the Fauna of Brit. India.) 
A very common estuarine fish in Madras which ascends rivers 
when young and comes into fresh water. 
Fry almost certainly of this species swarm the river Cooum in 
November and December, which appears to be the breeding season. 
Characters of Fry.—D. 9/10. A. 10 (2/8), The fry measured 
from 12 to 14 mm. in length when captured. The scales were un- 
developed. The body was diaphanous, of a translucent yellow 
colour, except the abdomen and opercles which were bright silvery ; 
the upper two-thirds of the first dorsal fin black; a beautiful 
arrangement of dark stellate pigment-spots occur in clusters along 
the back. The shape of the body was similar to the adult (figs. 
24 and 25). 
Osphromenus gourami, Lacep.’ 
(O. olfax of the Fauna of Brit. India.) 
Tamil—Sangara. 
The gourami is a large freshwater fish of the Malay Archi- 
pelago* which has been introduced into Europe, Mauritius, 
Cayenne, Australia (1864), Madras (1866), Ceylon (1909)° and 
other places as a valuable food fish. 
Sir William Denison®, when Governor of Madras, imported 
them from Mauritius about 1865. The fish arrived in the early 
part of Lord Napier’s stay and were introduced into the Govt. 
1 and ? Chaudhuri and Sewell, Jud. Fish of Proved Utility as Mosquito- 
Destroyers, p. 10. 
3’ Tate Regan, Asiatic Fishes of the Family Anabantidae. Pyvoc. Zool. Soc., 
1909, II, p. 774. 
+ The locality China (Richardson and Day) has been omitted by most autho- 
rities such as Gunther (Brit. Mus. Cat., III, p. 382); Boulenger (Cambridge 
Nat. Hist., Fishes, p, 669). 
5 Spol. Zeylan., VII, pp. 95, 96, 210 and 221. 
8 Rod in India, 1881, pp. 279 and 280; La Pisciculture et la Péche en Chine, 
1872. 
