242 Records of the Indian Museum. [VoL. XVIII, 
luxuriant, were all that were observed. On the bottom, shells of 
Lamellidens marginalis race rhadinaeus and Corbicula fluminalis 
were abundant, but no living specimens were obtained. On one 
of these shells a living colony of the Polyzoon Fredericella sultana 
race jordanica was observed. Fish were very scarce, but we saw 
fishermen catching Schizothorax zarudnyi in nets in the open lake, 
near a reed-bed. 
THE FAUNA OF THE REED-BEDS. This fauna is much the 
richest, or rather the least impoverished, in the lake. It is con-. 
centrated in small, comparatively deep pools which are choked 
even in December with submerged vegetation. In the composition 
of this, Potamogeton pectinatus is the dominant plant, but FP. 
perifoliatus, Nats major and at least one species of Characeae also 
occur. 
Among the reeds very few fish are found, and of those we 
caught all belong to one species (Discognathus adiscus) and seemed 
to be in a moribund condition; but the more open channels in the 
reed-beds are the proper home of Schizothorax zarudnyt, the largest 
fish found in Seistan and apparently the only one caught for 
food. 
Limnaea gedrosiani, Gyraulus cuphraticus and G. convexiusculus 
were the commonest molluscs in the small pools, but a few small 
specimens of Ammnicola sistanica were also found. Shells of this 
species, Jn much greater abundance and of a larger size, were dug 
from the soil of the natzar. The Limnaea belonged to the typical 
form of the species but the shells were smaller and a little 
narrower than those found in ponds at Quetta. 
Insect-life was less abundant in this region than might have 
been expected. Larvae of Chironomid Diptera were fairly common, 
and so were those of two species of dragonflies. Major Fraser 
thinks that one of these is probably the larva of the common 
Palaearctic Agrionid Ischnura elegans, while he states that the 
other ‘‘ combines some of the features of an Agrionine with those 
of a Lestine.”’ He remarks that it is unusual to find dragonfly 
larvae active in winter, as these species were. 
Adu!t insects were less abundant, both in the pools and among 
the reeds, than larvae. Mr. Edwards has found in our collection 
several species of Chironmus, all allied to, if not identical with 
European species but unfortunately, owing to an accident, not in 
sufficiently good condition for specific determination. 
The Entomostraca found in this habitat were cosmopolitan 
species common in similar situations in other countries. None of 
the higher Crustacea were seen. 
A sponge and two species of Polyzoa were fairly common on 
the stems of Typha. The sponge was a phase of the cosmopolitan 
Ephydatia fluviatilis and one of the Polyzoa an equally cosmopolitan 
species, Fvedericella sultana. ‘The latter belonged to a race (jorda- 
nica) hitherto known only from the Jordan and the Volga system, 
while the other member of the same group [Plumatella (Hyalinella) 
bigemmis] has been described as new in this volume. 
