Vol. VII, No. 9.] Freshwater Sting-Rays of the Ganges. 627 
(W.S.] 
(H.B.), because Raia fluviatilis is stated by him to be a bigger 
fish than Raita sancur, which, by his own measurements, is 
3 feet in diamet 
the volume in the Fauna of British India, which 
came out in 1889, none of the Trygons are stated to have fresh- 
water retained ce h some are said to approach 
shore during the Moreover, although another 
Batoid (Pristis ne ehnng ae ‘een included by Boulenger in 
the Catalogue of the Freshwater Fishes of Africa (1909), no 
reference is made to the existence of any 7'rygon in the rivers 
of that continent. When, therefore, a large number of sting- 
rays were met with at Buxar, Patna, Rajmehal, Bhagalpur 
and other places far above tidal influence, it became evident 
that the existing information about them was extremely defec- 
tive. At the instance of the Superintendent of the Museum 
a systematic investigation was instituted and Rajmehal, 
nme oe and. Bars an were visited. As only muti- 
t : 
distinguish two distinct kinds, both growing to a large si = 
The larger of the two is desc ribed as flat and thin, while the 
other is distinguished as high and deep. The flat species is 
termed by the Banpars of Bhagalpur pdidl mdrid (or patter 
at Rajmehal), whereas the high and deep species is named 
metia at Bhagalpur and telia at Rajmehal. The name pdtdl 
mérid indicates the habit of the bigger and flatter species, 
which prefers the deeper part of the river— —and thus, being 
difficult to catch, is the rarer of the two. The name metia 
means earthy, probably having reference to the dull brown 
colour of the dorsal surface of the fish. In February, 1910, 
two adult males of the smaller species were caught by hook and 
line near Udhua nalla, only a few miles beyond Rajmehal, 
and a full-grown foetus of the same species, cut out of its 
mother, was secured at Rajmehal. In June two full-grown 
perm male and female, were caught by hook and line in 
the co the Ganges below Bararighat near Bhagalpur. This 
ies is undoubtedly Hypolophus sephen (Forskal), 
po is ‘lentica! with the ata sancur of Hamilton. The 
1 All these geunrg are derived from the Sanskrit name Sankar, which 
means mongrel, a e fishes are probably so called because of a fancied 
resemblance to Soctilean, the rays being supposed to be mongrels be- 
tween fish and tortoises. 
