1920.| N. ANNANDALE & S. LL. Hora: The Fish of Setstan. 167 
The arrangement and structure of the pharyngeal teeth is 
very similar to that in D. adiscus, but they are a little stouter. 
We find in two specimens of a large series that small vestigial 
scales occur on the sides of the abdomen. In these specimens 94 
scales, including the vestigial ones, can be distinguished below the 
lateral line on each side. We have not found any trace of scales 
on the dorsal line. Fully formed scales are shorter in proportion 
than those of D. adiscus and differ in being ornamented with radit 
below as well as above the nucleus. The circular striae are more 
numerous and less regular and the scale has a much more reticulate 
appearance. ‘The following are the measurements of a large scale 
from just above the lateral line:—length 1:8 mm.;_ breadth 
2mm.; distance of nucleus from base 0°3 mm. The specimens of 
which measurements are given in the table are from the Pishin 
district of northern Baluchistan, except No. 6, which is the type- 
specimen from Seistan. 
This species has been generally confused with D. variabilis, 
Heckel, from which it differs, according to the description given 
by Gunther,' in the size of the eye as well as in its naked ventral 
and dorsal surfaces. It is impossible, therefore, to discuss the 
geographical distribution in detail. D. variabilis has been recorded 
from several localities in Syria, Mesopotamia and eastern Persia. 
Records from the last district probably refer to D. phryne. 
D. phryne is, with the exception of Nemachilus montanus 
(McClell.) (not the N. montanus of Day), by far the most abundant 
fish in the small streams of the Quetta and Pishin districts of 
northern Baluchistan at altitudes between 5,000 and 6,000 feet. 
It is not found in very rapid water but lives in thickets of Chara- 
ceae and other algae growing on a muddy bottom. Its food con- 
sists mainly of soft filamentous algae. At the Kushdil Khan 
reservoir it was observed in winter to collect in large numbers in 
pools into which water of a comparatively high temperature was 
flowing from underground sources into the outflow. The colour is 
much darker in very clear than in muddy water. In Seistan the 
species occurs in irrigation channels and probably (fide Nikolsky) 
in the reed-beds of the Hamun. Several specimens were captured 
by the members of the Seistan Arbitration Commission in the 
delta of the Helmand. 
! Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., Vil, p. 71 (1868). 
