1921.] S. L,. HORA : Fishes of the genus Garra. 637 



whence Buchanan obtained his specimens of godyari and lainta. 

 On page 81 of the volume cited above t!ie habitat of the godyari, 

 cited under the name sahari, is given as, " small streams among 

 rocks south of Monghir " ; the laiiita has been stated to occur 

 "in the Rapti River of the Gorakhpur District." Nowada5's 

 ^longhyr is not included in the Bhagalpur District but is in a district 

 of its own ; the hills towards its south, to which Buchanan referred, 

 are the well-known Kharagpur Hills. While gathering information 

 for a tour in these hills my attention was drawn to a significant 

 passage in the District Gazetteer of Monghyr (igog) where the 

 author, dealing with the fishes of the Man River, observes that, 

 '' The pools below the waterfalls along the latter river are tenanted 

 by a little fish which the woodmen declare to be the young tengra. 

 When flood comes this little fish finds it very difficult to hold its 

 own against the stream; but nature has provided it with a sucker, 

 which enables it to fasten itself to the rocks and wait securely 

 until the flood has passed." This passage proved of great as- 

 sistance in determining the habitat of Garra lainta recorded by Ha- 

 milton Buchanan from the then known Bhagalpur District and in 

 October 1920 a series of specimens was obtained in the Man River. 

 The fish were fairly abundant in small pools below the Kalin 

 waterfall, but it was very difficult to net them as on the slightest 

 provocation they would hide themselves underneath stones. B\' 

 bailing the water from an isolated pool in the course of the Katin 

 nallah eight specimens were obtained, one was found in the 

 Bhaura Stream, a tributary of the Man River, and another near 

 the Uttar band, the canal outlet on the eastern side. From the 

 passage quoted from the Gazetteer, it would be inferred that 

 the local name of Garra lamia is "tengra" in these parts. I 

 have not been able to verify this, but found two local names 

 instead current among the fishermen, Gudar ' and Patkarchat ; in 

 the former reference is inade to the rounded subcylindrical 

 form of the fish and in the latter to its habit of adhering to 

 stones. The fish was said to be very common during the rains 

 and it is stated that at this season a large number climb up the 

 artificial waterfall known as Katin. After having made collections 

 at Kharagpur, I went to Gorakhpur to see the fishes of the Rapti 

 River, but failed to find a single specimen of Garra. Moreover the 

 name lamta was strange in the town of Gorakhpur and its vicinity. 

 Even enquiries from old fishermen elicited no information as to 

 the occurrence of a fish with this name in the district, nor did 

 they recognise as local fish some specimens of Garra which I had 

 brought with me. It may here be remarked that the Rapti River 

 near Gorakhpur is a muddj' channel and its bed is nowhere rocky 

 within a few miles of the town. 



In giving a synopsis of the species of a genus of fish a good 



' Gudar \s a\so the vernacular name jj^iven to all species of Nemacliiltis in 

 the Kumaon Hills. 



