1916.] B.SunpARA Raj: Freshwater lish of Madras. 285 
Etroplus suratensis (Bloch). 
Tamil—Pani shettat, Setha kendaz. 
Habitat and Habtts.—Fairly common in fresh and brackish 
water, both in’ ponds and rivers. Salinity does not appear to 
affect this fish, while it lives and breeds in the Red Hills in absolute 
fresh water. I have obtained adult fish on at least two different 
occasions from the sea opposite the mouth of the river Adyar. In 
the Madras marine aquarium specimens captured in the backwater 
live in sea water with marine fish. Saltwater specimens are much 
more vividly coloured than freshwater ones. 
‘“ Etropus greatly affect the shallows of a tank or river and congregate near 
rocks and stones, and if there are wooden palings going into the water, they are 
often to be found round about them, probably for the sake of the moss and 
weeds.” ! 
It is essentially a vegetable-feeder but takes worms and insects 
also, and according to Thomas ejects the cuticle. It is said to be 
a very powerful fish for its size, but very sluggish. 
‘‘On hot days the Etroplus may be seen basking in large shoals on the surface. 
They take best from about five o’clock until dusk ; the larger fish especially seem 
very particular as to the time of day they feed.’ 2 
Day’s statement that this fish buries itself in the mud * has not 
been confirmed by other observers. Recently, while engaged in 
stocking operations when hundreds of E. suratensis had to be cap- 
tured, I have observed that it has the peculiar habit of lying flat 
on the bottom of ponds and rivers to escape drag nets. It occurs 
almost entirely in the maritime districts and hence is probably 
unsuitable for stocking waters far inland ; the experiment however 
is being made by the Madras Fisheries. 
The only published account of the breeding habits is that of 
Dr. Willey,* who describes the nest, eggs and young of this species 
in his preliminary account of the Inland Fisheries of Ceylon, 
(Reports of 1908 and 1909) ; from which the following extracts are 
taken :— 
The breeding habits are very similar to those of FE. maculatus. 
‘The eggs . . . are attached to the lower surfaces of stones and logs 
and are watched over by the male. On May 21, 1909, a Koraliya (EZ. swratensis) 
HES was Lounds fa\euspaces . I went there about 11-30 A.M. and saw the 
adults, both male and female keeping guard. When the man who was with me 
advanced his hand to the small stone projecting from the bank of the canal under 
which the eggs were attached, the smaller, male, . . . approached and pecked 
at the man’s fingers. The large, female, kept a little in the background in 
deeper water. . . . . The eggs were attached contiguously in a single layer 
on the underside of the stone, which was partially imbedded in the earth at the 
base of the bank of the canal. Some of the eggs were white, indicating failure 
and death. The living eggs were in an advanced stage of development, the em- 
bryo being formed and the yolk pigmented. The yolk is yellow opaque, and 

| Thomas, Tank Angling, p.91 (quotes from “ Fleur de Lys’’). 
P= Vhomae, |. cp. 92. 
3 Day, Fishes of Malabar, p. 162; Fishes of India, p. 416. 
; * Notes on the Freshwater Fisheries of Ceylon. Spol. Zeylan., VII, p. 102 
(IQII). 
