1918.] N. Annandale: F/,s7/ of the Inle Lake. 53 



no serious attempt to catch it. They were able to obtain specimens 

 for us with a dip-net, but only at the expense of great labour. In muddy 

 water such as that of the Yawnghwe river it is much easier caught, 

 but I did not see it in any of the markets and have been unable to 

 detect specimens in samples of dried whitebait. 



B. awopurpnyeiis breeds rather earlier than most of the fishes of 

 the lake, but the breeding period is evidently prolonged. We found 

 shoals of young post-larval stages and of small fish that had not yet 

 attained the characteristic bright colouration, on the surface near 

 the middle of the lake. In all of these there is a dark mid-lateral band 

 and a row of close-set black dots above the anal fin. I figure two of 

 the younger stages. 



Family NOTOPTERIDAE. 

 Notopterus notopteius (Pall.) 



1889. Notopterua kapirat. Day, op. cil., p. 40(i, fig. 129. 

 1889. Notopterus kapirat, Vinciguerra, op. cif., p. 355. 

 1913. Notopterus notopterus, Weber, op. cit.. p. 9. 



This fish is common in the Inle Lake, but is always small, never 

 exceeding 10 inches in length. Most of the specimens obtained were 

 very dark in colour, the back being black and the sides dark grey. As, 

 how^ever, I have pointed out elsewhere, ^ individuals exposed to a bright 

 light in an aquarium assume this colouration, which in those from the 

 lake is doubtless due to the clearness of the water. N. notopterus is 

 also common at He-Ho. It has a wide distribution in India, Burma, 

 tSiam, Malaya and the Malay Archipelago. The small size of the fish 

 and its exceeding boniness interferes with its economic value, but 

 large numbers are sold in the Intha bazaars. They are mostly 

 caught with hook and line or taken in weed-trawls. They live as a 

 rule among weeds near the shore of the lake. 



Order ACANTHOPTERIGII. 

 Family MASTACEMBELIDAE. 



This family is represented in the Inle fauna by two species of Mas- 

 tacemhelus, both of which are, as far as we know, endemic in the Inle 

 and He-Ho basins.^ 



Mastacembelus caudiocellatus, Boulenger. 

 (Plate I, fig. 3.) 



1893. Mastacetnbelus caudiocellatus, Boulenger, op. cit., p. 199. 

 1912. Mastacembelus caudiocellatus, id., Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia {'!) 

 XV, pp. 198, 200. 



A photograph of a specimen is reproduced on plate I, fig. 3 to show 

 the characteristic colouration. The ocelli on the sides of the tail are not 



1 Annandale, Journ. Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc. XXI, p. 693 (1911-12). 



- Dr. Boulenger's statement that they occur in the Irawaddi is due, as he informs 

 me, to a misapprehension. See Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadflphia (2) XV, p. 200 (1912). 



