XVIII.— NOTES ON A COLLECTION OF 



MARKETABLE FISH FROM AKYAB, 



WITH A DESCRIPTION OF A NEW 



SPECIES OF LACTARIUS. 



By R. E. Lloyd, M.B., B.Sc, Captain, I. M.S., Surgeon 

 Naturalist, Mar'.nc Survey of India. 



In February this year ]\Ir. I. H. Burkill, Reporter on Economic 

 Products to the Government of India, sent an agent to Akyab, 

 on the Arakan Coast of Burma, to make a col ection of the fish 

 exposed for sale in the market. This collection, which includes 

 no less than 69 different species, was handed over to the Indian 

 Museum for investigation. Dr. Annandale, who looked tlirough 

 the specimens and identified some o" the species, has invited me 

 to complete the identifications and to publish the results. 



The collection includes fish from both fresh and salt water, 

 but even taking this fact into consideration, it is surprising to 

 find so many different species of edible fish on sa'e in the market 

 at one season. Their variety illustrates the great wealth of fish 

 life in Indian waters. 



Most of the species have been identified from Francis Day's 

 admirable monograph on the fishes of India, and also b}^ refer- 

 ence to his original collection, which is available for comparison in 

 the Indian IMuseum. Several of the species show sl'ght variations 

 from Day's descriptions, and in one case it has been found necessary 

 to describe a new species {Lactarius hiirmanicns). 



The agent who collected the fish also gathered together infor- 

 mation of various kinds about them, such as their Arakanese names, 

 the season of the year at which they are common, the character of 

 the water in which they are found, and their market value. Some 

 of his statements are at variance with those of Day ; but it must be 

 remembered how difficult it is to obtain accurate information on 

 such subjects. In the following list the statements in inverted 

 commas are extracts from the notes of Babu Rajonl Kanta Das, 

 who made the collection. All undefined references are to Day's 

 Fishes of India. The class'fication adopted is that of Boulenger. 

 The term " river fish " may here be taken to include all fish from 

 water on the landward side of Akyab bar. 



