234 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XX 



cluced. The costals in the hatchling were similar in number to those of the 

 and her brood. The ventrals 170 and subcaudals 60. 



F. WALL, C.M.Z.S., 



Chitral, 1st March 1910. Major, I.M.S. 



No. XXIX.— LARGE MAHSEER. 



In The Field for November 13th, 1909, Mr. C. E. Murray-Aynsley gives an 

 account of the capture on September 20th of a large (Mahseer Barhus tor) 

 in the Cauvery river which he eventually landed after an exciting fight last- 

 ing over half an hour. The fish weighed 103 lbs. and measured as follows :• — 

 length, 64 inches ; girth, 39 inches ; mouth across, 8^ inches ; tail across, 

 19 inches. This is the second large Mahseer Mr. Murray-Aynsley has been 

 fortunate enough to catch and in The Field for November 10th, 1906, he gave 

 an account of how he caught the first one. 



The weight of the fish caught then was 104 lbs. and it measured : length, 66 

 inches ; girth, 37 inches ; mouth, 8£ inches ; tail, 19 inches. 



There are not many records of the weight of large Mahseer which can be 

 relied on. Thomas in The Rod in India says :— " We hear of captures of fish 

 weighing more or less about 100 lbs." and he goes on to give extract from a 

 letter from Gr. P. Sanderson, with reference to the weight of a large Mahseer 

 the latter had caught on a night line but was unable to weigh. He (Sanderson), 

 however, estimated it at 150 lbs., though it only measured u length including 

 tail 60 inches ; greatest girth 38 inches ; inside lips when open circumference 

 24 inches ," but he adds :• — " Of course my rough estimate of the fish's 

 weight is valueless as fact, but you may believe that I was not out many 

 pounds. It was an astonishingly thick and heavy fish for its short length.. 

 I have caught them 5 feet 6 inches, but not much more than 80 lbs. It had 

 a shoulder like a bullock, steeply hanging over. I have caught about fifty of 

 them, but my next largest was about 90 lbs. I have no doubt in my own n 

 mind that they run over 200 or 250 lbs. as I have seen teeth and bones of 

 them far larger than my 150 pounder ; they are often caught by the natives." 



Dr. Day records a Mahseer caught in the Poonch river near Jhelum which i 

 measured " from snout to bifurcation of tail 3 feet 11 inches and weighed 

 62 lbs." Writing in the Anglers Handbook the late Captain Gr. H. Lacy and 

 Surgeon-Major Crelin say : — " It runs to 200 lbs. and bh feet." Sanderson in his 

 Thirteen years amongst the Wild Beasts of India describes and figures a monster 

 Mahseer caught with a night line in the Cauvery river. " I saw a similar i 

 Mahseer caught with a net in the Gfogra at Fyzabad. The length of each of 

 these fish was about equal to the height of a man 5 feet 6 inches. Sanderson, i 

 underestimates his at 150 lbs., the other was estimated at 100 seers. The late 1. 

 Captain Lacy caught a female Mahseer at Taugrot 61 lbs. in weight, 4 feet 

 7 inches in length and 2| feet, in girth." 



" Skene Dhu " in his recent work The Angler in Northern India (1910) says 

 the Mahseer " runs to 200 lbs. in weight " and adds that " the largest Mahseer 





