802 MR. F. DAY ON THE FISHES OF YARKAND. [Dec. 5, 



Salmonid.e. Salmo oxianus, Kess., river Darant, falling into 

 the Kisil-su, one of the upper tributaries of the Oxus. 



Esocid^e. Esox lucius, Linn., Jaxartes and its tributaries. 



Chondropterygii. Acipenser schipa, Lovetsky, Jaxartes, 

 Casalius river. Scaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi, Kess., Oxus. 



The foregoing fishes of Western Turkestan * mainly consist of, 

 first, those descending from the north or spreading from the east or 

 west, such as Perca, Lucioperca, Coitus, Gobio, Abramis, Acantho- 

 brama, Pelecus, A'burnus, Aspins, Squalius, Leuciscus, Acipenser, 

 and Scaphirhynchus. 



Secondly, those common to Afghanistan and Yarkand, as Schizo- 

 thorax, Barbus, Loaches (? genus). 



Thirdly, those found also in Yarkand, as Schizothorax and Di- 

 ptychus. 



Fourthly, Silurus (which will be alluded to). 



Lastly, Salmo, on the slopes of the mountains where the rivers 

 descend to the Oxus. 



The existence of one of the Salmonidae, termed Salmo orientalis by 

 M 'Clelland, was well known to Dr. Stoliczka ; and an especial object 

 of his search (as he informed me previous to starting) would be to try 

 and ascertain what its distribution was. Griffith found this fish "in 

 the Bamean river, a stream that falls from the northern declivities of 

 the Hindoo Koosh into the Oxus." 



Kessler does not record any of this family from the Jaxartes, or, in 

 fact, from the rivers immediately descending from the Tian Shan or 

 the Alatau Mountains. We are therefore left to surmise that in 

 the hills whence these fishes were taken is the abrupt termination of 

 members of the family Salmonidse, which does not'possess a solitary 

 representative in Hindustan, except the S. levenensis (introduced on 

 the Neilgherries in Madras). 



If we now take a short review of the Freshwater Fishes of India, 

 we find much as follows : — 



ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Genera Ambassis, Badis, Nandus, Pristolepis, Sciama, Gobius and 

 some allied genera, Rhynchobde/la, Mugil, Anabas, Polyacanthus, 

 Osphromenus, Trichoy aster, Etroplus exist in India, but are absent 

 from the fresh waters of Afghanistan, Turkestan and Yarkand. 

 Whether existing only in large rivers or distributed more generally 

 over India, none pass the boundary of the Himalayas. 



Mastacembelus and Ophiocephalus are found in India and also in 

 Afghanistan ; both also ascend for some height the Himalayas and 

 other hill-ranges. 



Physostomi. 



Silurid^e. Genera Erethistes, Macrones, Rita, Panyasius, Pseud- 



* T have to thank Mr. F. Carl Craemers for kindly translating sonic Russian 

 localities, which I should not otherwise have heen able to give. 



