Danio Malabaricus 



ERNEST LEITHOLF 



In the Madras Journal of Literature 

 and Science, for 1849, Jerdon describes 

 Pcrilampus malabaricus, canadensis and 

 mysoricus; Bleeker, in 1864, describes 

 Danio micronema and lineolatus from 

 Ceylon; Day, 1869, describes Paradanio 

 aurolineatus. All were merely variants 

 of one species, the fish we now know as 

 Danio malabaricus, and as synonyms are 

 handled by Day in his larger and later 

 work on the fishes of India. 



In color it is one of the most beautiful 

 of the genus. The back is gray-green ; 

 abdomen silvery ; the sides with three 

 sapphire-blue bands, the central one 

 somewhat wider at its base gradually 

 tapers toward the caudal. Between these 

 are two luminous golden lines, with an- 

 other line about three-fourths of an inch 

 long, sometimes very broken and irregu- 

 lar, and seemingly a continuation of a 

 number of irregular golden streaks and 

 dashes directly behind the gills, extends 

 partly through the centre of the central 

 band. The ventrals, anal and abdomen 

 are tinged with reddish salmon. Extend- 

 ing through the caudal fin are three or 

 four dusky rays. Some writers maintain 

 that these rays, in the female, incline 

 toward the upper lobe, and that the irreg- 

 ular marks behind the gills are more 

 numerous, but I have not found these de- 

 tails very convincing guides. The number 

 of irregular marks varies considerably, 

 a particular male may have more than 

 the average, and a certain female less. 

 Before maturity it is practically impos- 

 sible to distinguish the sexes, but when 



fully developed the coloration of the male 

 is more intense and the body more slen- 

 der and graceful. 



In proportions the length of the head 

 is contained four or five times in the 

 length of the body — two and one-half to 

 three and one-half times its height. The 

 dorsal contains from 12 to 15, anal 15 



- 1 I j 4 



Danio malabaricus (Male) 



to 19, pectorals 8 and the ventrals 15 

 rays. Lateral line with 35 to yj scales, 

 transversely 7 to 8. Of the four barbels 

 the two lower ones are very minute and 

 rudimentary, often entirely absent ; the 

 upper pair correspond in length to one- 

 half the diameter of the eye, and may 

 also be absent. 



The breeding of this Danio in confine- 

 ment has not met with any great degree 

 of success, and as none have been im- 

 ported since 1914, the species at this writ- 

 ing is nearly extinct in our collections. 

 We secured our stock at the time men- 

 tioned, and since then the original pairs 

 and later their offspring have frequently 

 spawned in our tanks. Fortunately some 

 of the fry always survived to maturity, 

 though each succeeding year marked a 

 decrease in number until, in 1918, only 

 three were found, and these succumbed 



