FRESH-WATER FISHES OF CEYLON, 247 



generally : '' Some bring forth their young alive, who flee for 

 refuge into their mouths. Some of them I have observed hatch 

 their ova in their mouth, and keep them there even after being 

 hatched. Dr. Day and I examined over 500 of these fish in company 

 on one occasion, besides the observations we had each made sepa- 

 rately. The conclusions we came to were, that the female seemingly 

 holds the eggs (which are about half an inch in diameter) in her two 

 large cup-hke ventral fins, whence they are taken by the male, who 

 thenceforward keeps them in his mouth, never eating, till they are 

 hatched." It has been suggested that the suffragette idea is not 

 quite so new as we thought it. 



The anguluwa, in common with Mastacemhelus , Ophiocephalus , 

 and (I think) Saccobranchus , are included in a group of fish peculiar 

 for the fact that they are able to hibernate through lengthy periods 

 in sun-dried clay, which pecuharity extends also to the eggs of 

 these species. 



In India, where it frequently happens that protracted drought 

 results in dried -up rivers and tanks, it is a common experience to 

 find, after a few hours' rain, practically every little pond and 

 wayside pool teeming with tiny fish, though the nearest water prior 

 to the rain was miles distant. This phenomena, perhaps naturally, 

 has given rise to a widespread behef, which, by the way, is not 

 confined to natives of the country, that a beneficent Providence 

 occasionally showers down fish to replenish barren water, but the 

 beUever usually fails to explain the absence of any fish whatever in 

 that portion of the downpour which may be caught in buckets or 

 other receptacles. 



The mention of small tanks and restricted areas of water suggests 

 another point of interest to students of fish fife, namely, the effect 

 of confined space on the fish themselves. This curious effect is very 

 marked in the case of Barbus tor, the famous sporting fish, better 

 known as Mahaseer or Leyla. 



Colonel Gordon Reeves, who has probably had a more extensive 

 acquaintance with this fish in Ceylon than any other recent observer, 

 mentions a specimen caught in the Mahaweh-ganga which weighed 

 23^ lb., and, so far as I know, this constitutes the record weight for 

 this country. Now, in the large Indian waterways, like the Ganges 

 and Jumna, 23 or 24 lb. would be considered a comparatively small 

 Mahaseer, and numerous specimens have been caught which weighed 

 well over 100 lb., my own bags having included several verging on 

 60 lb. In the Bangalore Museum there used to be, and no doubt 

 still is, the head of a specimen caught by Colonel Sanderson, the 

 authenticated weight of which was 150 lb., and the same authority 

 speaks of others weighing from 200 to 250 lb. 



Nor is this curious effect confined to the members of the carp 

 family, as may readily be seen by comparing other varieties common 

 to Ceylon with specimens of the same from the adjoining continent. 



