26 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in. 



Burapatra* Assam: Poo - meen - candee^ Tarn.: Naharm, Hind.: 

 Kukhiah, Pimj. : Joon-gah, Petiah and Kurreah, Sind. 



\ B. iii., D. 12 (f), P. 19, V. 9, A. 7-8 (^ 3 ), L.I. 25-27, L.tr. 4/4. 



Length of head 4 to 5, of caudal 4* to 5, height of body 4^ to 5! in the 

 total length. Eyes diameter 6j to 7| in the length of the head in 

 moderately sized specimens, but much larger in the young (at 3*5 inches 

 in length, being 3! in the length of the head ; at 5 inches 4!), 2 to i\ 

 diameters from the end of the snout, and 2 apart. Interorbital space flat. 

 Opercle | higher than wide ; the maxilla reaches to below the front edge 

 of the eye ; snout pointed ; jaws of about the same length ; lips thick, 

 with an uninterrupted fold across the lower jaw, and both the upper and 

 lower lips in some specimens produced in the mesial line. Dorsal profile 

 more convex than the abdominal in some examples, not so in others. 

 Barbels the maxillary pair longer than the rostral ones, and extend to 

 below the last third of the eye. Fins the dorsal arises opposite the 

 ventral, and is f as high as the body, its last undivided ray is smooth, 

 osseous, strong, and of varying length and thickness. Himalayan, Bengal, 

 and Central Indian specimens generally have the spine strong, and from 

 | to frd the length of the head, it rarely exceeding this extent. In Canara-, 

 Malabar, and Southern India, where the lips are largely developed (see 

 PI. cxl.), the spine is very much stronger and as long as the head excluding 



* "Hatti Shikaree," i.e., Mr. J. E. Welborne, a resident in Assam, gives the 

 Assamese as Jimga Peetia, and Dr. Day himself does the same further down in this 

 quotation. 



f The Tamil word should be spelt B8m-min, as explained a few pages further on 

 in this chapter. Poo-min would mean flower- fish in Tamil, and be incorrect for the 

 Mahseer. Candee, correctly spelt Kendai, is the Tamil word for carp, and includes 

 with the Tamulians many more sorts of fish than all the Cyprinidse, so that Dr. Day's 

 Poo-meen-candee may more correctly be read Bom-min without the Kendai. It is 

 very difficult indeed to get correct vernacular names. The only way is to get them 

 written down for you in the vernacular character by some native who really knows 

 how to spell them in his own language, and then to transliterate them yourself on a 

 correct system, as given in my book "Tank Angling in India," where you will find 

 it by referring to the word "transliteration" in the index, together with some 

 remarks on the difficulties connected with correct vernacular naming. The Canara 

 Canarese name is Peruval or Harale-minu ; the Mysore Canarese, Hallamlnu ; the 

 Malayalim, Meruval ; the Tulu, Heiagdlu or Peruval ; the Hindustani, Maha-sir. 

 \ B iii. = Branchiostegals iii. 



D = Dorsal fin. 



P = Pectoral fin. 



V = Ventral fin. 



A = Anal fin. 



C = Caudal fin. 



L.I. = Lateral line. 



L.tr. = Lateral transverse. 



