1916.} B.SuNDARA Raj: Freshwater Fish of Madras. 283 
Freshwater Fishes of South India’’ in the Madras Jour. of Lit. 
and Science, Vol. XV, p. 143. He observes that 
“At the season of spawning the fish (both male and female I believe though | 
am not quite certain of this) assumes a brighter livery than at other times; the 
yellow of its lower surface deepens, and the one dark spot on its side is accom- 
panied by several others so much soas to give it a marbled appearance, which 
however is somewhat transient. The eggs are not very numerous, and are depo- 
sited in the mud at the bottom of the stream, and when hatched, both parents 
guard their young for many days, vigorously attacking any large fish that pass 
near them. I have had an opportunity of observing this, as well among fish in 
confinement as in the streams.”’ 
The colours are very variable, but usually become very vivid 
and bright during the breeding season. The whole fish becomes 
orange, especially the ventral half of the body, the ventral fins 
turn jet black, and a broad terminal band of the same colour extends 
along the margin of the anal covering nearly #ths of that fin. 
The eyes are red, and shining metallic blue lines appear below them 
and on the opercles. 
During the breeding season the fish are found in pairs and 
several pairs build their nests close together in the same locality. 
Early in February, 1910 I had the opportunity of observing several 
such nests in an innundated paddy-field in Puruswakam, Madras. 
They contained eggs and fry in various stages of development, with 
the parents guarding them. The nest is a shallow cup-shaped pit, 
roughly an inch deep at the centre and about 3 to 4 inches in 
diameter, scooped in the bottom debris and lined with the silky 
fibres of the common freshwater alga (Spivogyra).' All the nests 
were in very shallow water, the depth varying from 4 to 9 
inches. The eggs are not very numerous (in a nest recently 
obtained there were 266) and are demersal and adhesive in 
character. They are oval, about 1} by rt mm. each, and of a 
dark brown colour. They were deposited in the centre of the nest 
and each egg was found adhering to a plant-fibre, being attached 
at one end by a short thick stalk. The yolk is dark brown and 
contains a large oil globule (fig. 26). I have not been able to ascer- 
tain the interval between oviposition and hatching. The eggs 
hatch by the top of the egg-membrane lifting off like a lid. The 
shallow water which becomes tepid during the day no doubt helps 
to develop the eggs, The parents keep a vigorous guard and 
every now and then the male or female is seen to stoop over the 
nest and scrutinise the eggs. 
Description of fry.—A few eggs obtained from one of the above 
nests hatched in the aquarium. On the first day the fry measure 
44mm. in length (fig. 27), the eyes are pigmentless, the yolk-sac 
is large, the median fins are continuous and there is no trace of 
the paired fins. The larvae rest on the bottom with the ventral 
surface uppermost. There are two cement organs on the head, one 
above the other, by which they adhere to the bottom debris. Once 


L Recently in South Arcot I saw a nest which was a mere pit in the sand and 
the eggs were attached to a submerged rock. 
