[ 349 ] 
XXV. On the Fishes of the Dukhun. By Lieut.-Col. W. H. Syxes, F.R.S., &e. 
Communicated November 27, 1838. 
In submitting to the Society an account of the fishes of Dukhun, it will scarcely 
excite surprise, that out of 46 species described, no less than 42 are new to science, 
since they are from a hitherto untrodden field, and from peculiar localities, on the great 
plateau of the Dukhun (Deccan), none of them coming from a less elevation than 1500 
feet above the sea ; many from near 2000 feet, and others from yet higher situations. 
The chief features in the collection are the paucity of orders to which the collection 
belongs, and the remarkable prevalence of the members of the families of Siluride and 
Cyprinide. There is but one apodal Malacopterygian, but four Acanthopterygii, and the 
whole of the rest of the fishes belong to the order Abdominal. Malacopterygians. Of 
the families there are only eight: Percide, Scombride, ‘ Pharyngiens Labyrinthiformes,’ 
Gobiade, Siluride, Cyprinide, Esocide, and Murenide, comprising fifteen genera and 
nine subgenera, including one subgenus, which I have been compelled to add to the 
Cyprinde. An attempt has been made to methodize and distinguish the multitudinous 
members of the families of Siluride and Cyprinide. The fact is, the continued inos- 
culation in the character of the teeth, of the cirri, of the spines (serrated or not), of the 
fins, of the armature of the head, and of the position of the fins, in the Siluride ; and of 
the number of cirri, and form and position of the fins in the Cyprinide ; together with the 
character of the mouth, produce such approximations in species to each other, and in 
individuals of one genus to another, that not only is there infinite difficulty in deter- 
mining the genera of the fishes of these families, but their identity as species is occa- 
sionally not less difficult. Some of my Siluride do not exactly correspond with the 
generic characters of the genera of this family as now constituted, and I might have 
added to the number of genera; but to this I have an objection, unless as an evidently 
necessary measure. In the Cyprinidae, however, I was obliged to set aside my repug- 
nance, for three species were not referrible to any one even of the numerous subgenera 
which Buchanan Hamilton wished to establish. It only remains to state, that the 
whole of my fishes were drawn from absolute measurement, and have a scale of size 
attached to each figure: they were caught in the various rivers or whose banks I en- 
camped, as individuals were required; so that my draftsman, who worked constantly 
under my own eye, never had to finish his drawings from shriveled and discoloured 
Note.—In spelling native names the ‘“u” has the sound of the “u” in the English word “ hut,” and the 
other letters have their usual English sounds. 
