cope N. ANNANDALE and S. Kemp: Kumaon Lakes. 131 
lower surface of stones and less frequently on the stems of water 
plants. Many of the polyparia were undergoing division and the 
majority contained fully formed statoblasts. This polyzoon was 
also found in all the other lakes of Kumaon except Naukuchia 
Tal and nowhere in the district was it associated with any species 
of alga as was the case in Igatpuri lake in the Western Ghats.! 
The only sponge obtained in Malwa Tal was Spongilla lacustris 
subsp. veticulata, a form which is common in the plains of India 
and occurs in the W. Ghats at an altitude of over 2,000 ft. ‘The 
sponge formed a small basal mass with delicate branches and was 
of a green colour. It occurred, in no great abundance, on the 
stems of plants growing in the south-eastern corner of the lake. 
Of the higher crustacea only a single species (Potamon atkin- 
sonzanum) was obtained. As Alcock’ has shown, P. atkinsonianum 
is closely allied to P. koolooense. ‘The latter form extends from the 
Nepal Terai to Afghanistan, while the former ranges from the 
Shan States to Simla. The species are characteristic respectively 
of the Eastern and Western Himalayas; but the two occur 
together over an area reaching from Nepal to Simla and both have 
been taken on the shores of the Kumaon lakes. 
The entire absence of Palaemonidae and Atyidae is charac- 
teristic of all the lakes and of the streams in their immediate 
vicinity. 
When Malwa Tal was visited in May the plankton was any- 
thing but rich. Small Copepods occurred, but not in large 
numbers, while Cladocera and Ostracoda were extremely scarce. 
A few specimens of a Rotifer belonging to the family Anuraeidae 
were obtained and also a few Hydrachnids. A minute Peridiniid 
was found in small numbers.. It resembles Ceratiwm longicorne, 
Perty, in the length of its processes, but agrees with C. kumaon- 
ense, Carter,’ in having three processes instead of four: in some 
individuals, however, a rudiment of the fourth process can be 
detected, springing laterally from the anterior surface. The only 
adult aquatic insects which were observed were a Gerrid anda 
Corixid ; small dragon-fly larvae were abundant and a few Ephe- 
meridae were obtained. 
NAUKUCHIA TAL. 
This lake, also only visited in May, is, as is implied by its 
name (‘‘ the Lake of Nine Corners ’’), of irregular shape, not being 
situated in a narrow gorge. 
The fauna is at once distinguished from that of Malwa Tal by 
the entire absence of polyzoa, so far as could be ascertained, 
and by the profuse growth of sponges. 
The most abundant of the latter was a form of the widely 
distributed Ephydatia fluviatilis, a species not hitherto known to 
! Annandale, Fauna of British India, Freshwater Sponges, etc., p. 234, 
pl. iii, fig. 4, and West, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, 1911, p. 83. 
2 Cat. Ind. Dec. Crustacea, pt. I, fase. II (Potamonidae), p. 26 (Calcutta, 1910). 
8 Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (4), VII, p. 229 (1870). 
