1880.] MR. F. DAY ON THE FISHES OF AFGHANISTAN. 231 



doubtedly Indian forms. Laheo diplostomus and L. dyocheilus, 

 Cirrhina latia, Barbus tor, and Botia geto are fishes with a widely 

 extended range, found on many of the Indian hills, while some 

 extend far into the plains ; while two at least, Barbus tor and Cirrhina 

 latia, are evidently extensively spread in Beluchistan and Afghani- 

 stan. Perhaps among the fishes which I obtained on the Sind side 

 of these hills, Scaphiodon leads us most naturally from the Persian 

 to the Indian fauna. S. irregularis seems to be a common form near 

 Quetta ; but I have only obtained it in Sind from the highest point 

 of one of the mountain-streams ; whereas S. watsoni, which seems to 

 commence on the summit of these hills, passes down into the waters 

 of the plains, and is found even in the salt-range of the Punjab. 



The fishes in the collections adverted to as obtained from the high 

 lands of the Beluchistan range of hills furnish us with a single in- 

 stance of an Acanthopterygian from the Bolan Pass, a locality which 

 perhaps we may well object to as not being at a high elevation. This 

 fish is the Mastacembelus armatus, which I likewise obtained from 

 one of the rivers descending from this range to Sind. But this fish 

 may have passed up from the Sind side, being found throughout the 

 Indian region both on the plains and even on the hills, while it extends 

 to China. This genus has likewise been recorded from Syria and also 

 from West Africa. 



Among the Siluroids Griffith records Silurns huggur from the 

 Bolan ; the Kuggur in Sind is the Uita huchanani, a fish one would 

 hardly expect to find in this locality ; still it exists in the Cabul 

 river at Peshawur and all down the Indus. Another fish, a IfacroneS; 

 is likewise termed luggur in some localities ; and several species are 

 spread through Sind, one of which may oe the form referred to ; it 

 would seem, however, to be a straggler from the Indian region. Cal- 

 lichrouspabda was obtained in the hills by Dr. Duke ; it is remarkable 

 that this form has also been taken at as great a height as Darjee- 

 ling in the Himalayas ; while it is also found along the deltas of the 

 Ganges, Indus, and Brahmaputra. It maj' perhaps be considered a 

 vagrant form and a straggler from the Indian region, when, finding 

 some warm valley, it remains there and propagates its kind. 



The Cyprinidae form the bulk of the collections ; and we may ob- 

 serve the following fishes present on the high lands of Kelat and 

 Quetta: — Cirrhina latia, also found near Gwadur, and observed 

 generally through India except south of the Kistna and on the Ma- 

 labar coast ; Scaphiodon irregularis, which, passing along these hills, 

 extends to their Sind aspect ; S. aculeata not only at Quetta, 

 but also at Gwadur ; ;S'. microphthalmus, Quetta ; Barbus tor, 

 largely distributed in the Indian region ; B. milesi, both from 

 those hills and Gwadur ; B. terio, another widely spread Indian 

 form. 



It is evident, if we may judge from the foregoing facts, that the 

 fish-fauna of this range of hills differs essentially from what ob- 

 tains along the summit of the Himalayas ; for the Schizothoracinse, 

 so very typical of what exists there, are entirely absent from the 

 Beluchistan range. 



