224 ZOOLOGY OF THE FAR EAST. 



that the specimens were all collected at one season renders it impossible to de- 

 termine the precise status oî individual species in this respect. It is none the less 

 possible to institute a comparison with the Decapod and Stomatopod fauna of the 

 Chilka Lake on the Orissa coast of the Bay of Bengal. The two lagoons are in many 

 respects closely similar : both are shallow, with a muddy bottom, both are connected 

 with the sea and it is practically certain that in the outer part of the Tale Sap, as in 

 the Chilka Lake, the salinity of the water varies considerably at different times of the 

 year. One essential difEerence must be noted, — that in no part of the Chilka Lake 

 does the water remain permanently fresh ; but this discrepancy may be obviated by 

 considering for comparative purposes only the fauna of the outer lake of the Tale 

 Sap. 



Of the forty-one species of Decapods and Stomatopods which we regarded as 

 permanent inhabitants of the Chilka Lake fifteen were found in the Tale Sap, 

 namely : — 



Camptandrium sexdentatum, Stimpson. Alpheus faludicola, Kemp. 



Varuna litterata (Fabricius). Carijlina propinqua, de Man. 



Scylla serrata (Forskâl). Penaeus carinatus, Dana. 



Neptunus pelagicus (Linn.). Penaeopsis monoceros (Fabricius). 



Clihanarius longitarsis (de Haan). ,, affinis (Milne- Edwards) . 



Diogenes avarus, Heller. Liscifev hanseni, Nobili. 



Upogebia {Upogehia) hetevocheir, Kemp. Squilla scorpio, Latreille. 



Squilla scorpio var. immaculata , Kemp. 



The majority of these are species of very wide distribution, found in the open sea 

 as well as in backwaters, and are consequently of little importance for comparative 

 purposes. The occurrence of Camptandrium sexdentatum, Upogebia hetevocheir, Alpheus 

 paludicola and Caridina propinqua appears, however, to indicate a real relationship 

 between the two faunas ; it is also noteworthy that the species of two Oxystome genera 

 found in the Tale Sap are closely allied to those obtained in the Chilka Lake. The 

 fauna of the Tale Sap, like that of the Chilka Lake, has little in common with that of 

 the Gangetic Delta, though the delta occupies a position intermediate between the 

 two lagoons so far as the coast-line is concerned. 



The Tale Sap collection is not rich in undescribed species but in a number of 

 cases considerable additions are made to our knowledge of the geographical distribu- 

 tion. 



The collection also contains a number of species found about fifty miles to the 

 south-east of the Tale Sap in the Patani river, below the town of Patani in the Siamese 

 Malay States. These specimens belong to sixteen species and were all obtained in 

 water that at the time of their capture was quite fresh ; the situation in which they 

 were found was, however, subject to tidal influence and there can be no doubt that all 

 the species are at times brought into contact with brackish water. The following 

 forms were found in the Patani river :^^— 



