CHAP. IV.] 



FRESH-WATER FISHES. 



209 



sent home by Major Skinner in 1852, although spe- 

 cimens of well-known genera, Colonel Hamilton Smith 

 pronounced nearly the whole to be new and undescribed 

 species. 



Of eight of these, which were from the Mahawelli- 

 ganga, and caught in the vicinity of Kandy, five were 

 carps 1 , of which two were Leucisci, and one a Masta- 

 cemblus, to which Col. H. Smith has given the name of 

 its discoverer7*M Skinneri 2 , one was an Ophicephalus^ 

 and one a Poly acanthus, with no seme on the gills. Six 

 were from the Kalany-ganga, close to Colombo, of which 

 two were Helastoma, in shape approaching the Chceto- 

 don ; two Ophicephali, one a Silurus, and one an Anabas, 

 but the gills were without denticulation. From the still 

 water of the lake, close to the walls of Colombo, there 

 were two species of Eleotris, one Silurus with barbels, 

 and two Malacopterygians, which appear to be Bagri. 



In this collection, brought together without premedita- 

 tion, the naturalist will be struck by the preponderance 

 of those genera which are adapted by nature to endure a 

 temporary privation of moisture ; and this, taken in con- 

 nection with the vicissitudes affecting the waters they 

 inhabit, exhibits a surprising illustration of the wisdom of 

 the Creator in adapting the organisation of His creatures 

 to the peculiar circumstances under which they are des- 

 tined to exist. 



So abundant are fish in all parts of the island, that 

 Knox says, not the running streams alone, but the reser- 

 voirs and ponds, " nay, every ditch and little plash of 

 water but ankle deep hath fish in it." 3 But many of 



1 Of the fresh-water fishes belong- 

 ing to the family Cyprinidae, there 

 are about eighteen species from Cey- 

 lon in the collection of the British 

 Museum. 



a This fish bears the native name 

 of Theliya in Major Skinner's list ; 

 and is described by Colonel Hamilton 

 Smith as being " of the proportions 

 of an eel, beautifully mottled, with 

 eyes and spots of a lighter olive upon 

 a dark green." This so nearly cor- 

 VOL. I. 



responds with a fish of the same 

 name, Tlidiya, which was brought to 

 Gronovius from Ceylon, and proved 

 to be identical with the Aral of the 

 Coromandel coast, that it may be 

 doubtfid whether it be not the in- 

 dividual already noted by Cuvier 

 as RJiyncobdella oceU-ata, Cuv. and 

 Val. viii. 445. 



3 KNOX'S Historical Relation of 

 Ceylon, Part i. ch. vii. The occur- 

 rence of fish in the most unlocked- 



