46 



Timehri. 



of testing its flavour. If we may judge by its popularity among the 

 Indians it must be very good. The arawana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum) 

 is a smaller tish found in the same localities as the arapaima ; it is said to 

 be tasty but with too many bones. 



The cuffum or tarpon (Tarpon atlanticus) has a wide range from the 

 coast up the rivers. It is sometimes found of a large size but we rarely 

 get such monsters as are caught in Florida. It is eaten here but gener- 

 ally considered rather insipid. 



The biara (Hydrolycus scomberoides) has been compared to a salmon. 

 It is very beautiful but at the same time gives the impression of great 

 ferocity from the long movable teeth. It is fairly plentiful at times and 

 can be seen mounting the rapids in a similar way to the salmon. It has 

 been suggested that this tish could be canned as salmon, but from what 

 we know of the habits of our fishes we do not consider that any one 

 species is plentiful enough to be economically taken for such a purpose. 

 Neither sea nor fresh-water species seem to go in large shoals as they 

 do in more northern countries ; it follows therefore that great fisheries 

 are practically impossible. 



Three fishes that may be compared with the biara in ferocity are the 

 haimara (Hoplias macrophthalmus), huri (Hoplias malabaricus) and yarau 

 (Erythrinus erythrinus). The first belongs to the upper river districts 

 but the two others are common in our fresh-water trenches. All are 

 good table fishes and the two latter form a large portion of the supply of 

 our villages and plantations. The sun-fish (Crenicichla saxatilis). one of 

 the loveliest of our fishes, is also fairly common These are active car- 

 nivorous species which make a stir in the water when they appear among 

 the slower species. 



When we see a lot of small tishes swimming for dear life or taking 

 flying leaps from the water we may assume that one of these ferocious 

 creatures has appeared. 



One of the most beautiful of our fishes and a really good one is the 

 lukanani (Cichla ocellaris). It is hardly known near town but in the 

 upper Mahaica and the Lamaha it is fairly common. The eye-spot on 

 the tail is margined with golden yellow, as are also three dark bands on 

 the sides. There are great varieties in the markings, but all have the 

 eye-spot on the. tail. Some epicures complain that it is bony but 

 the general opinion is that it is a good tish for the table. 



Among the tishes of small size the patwas are perhaps most common. 

 The name of the patwa is given to quite a large number of species all of 

 which are however deep in outline and are closely allied. The most 

 common are Cichlasoma bimaculatum and Mesonauta festivum ; these are 

 everywhere. They rarely exceed six inches in length but there are 

 larger kinds known as black patwas (Geophagus and Chsetobranchus) 

 which reach eight or ten inches. Properly cooked they are very nice. 



