LABEO. 167 



(this refers to the big fish), at Assiout, Sohag, Akhmim, Girga, Nag 'Hamacleh, 

 Assuan ; " dups or duVbis " (<^i>), between Shellal and Wady Haifa, Omdurman, 

 and Blue Nile ; " bisera " (*,***?), for small specimens by some of the fishermen of 

 Assuan, evidently a corruption of " bessariya" which is used throughout the whole of 

 Egypt for small specimens of this fish ; " four a " (s^), sometimes used at Arko. 



2. LABEO HOME. 

 (Plate XXVIII. and Plate XXXI. fig. 1.) 



Labeo liorie, Heckel, Russegger's Reise Egypt, iii. p. 304, pi. xxi. fig. 1 (1846). 



CJiondrostoma dembensis (non Riippell), Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Poiss. xvii. p. 398 (1844). 



Labeo niloticus, part., Gtinther, Cat. Fish. vii. p. 47 (1868), and Petherick's Trav. ii. p. 259 



(1869). 



Body strongly compressed, its greatest depth three and one-third to four times in the 

 total length. Head five to five and two-thirds times in the total length in the adult, 

 four to five times in the young, its width two-thirds to four-fifths its length ; snout 

 broadly rounded, its length about one-third that of the head; eye nearly perfectly 

 lateral, but slightly better visible from above than from below, its diameter five to five 

 and two-thirds times in the length of the head in the adult, three to four times in the 

 young ; interorbital width one-half to three-fifths the length of the head ; mouth rather 

 feebly arched, its width twice and a half to three times in the length of the head ; both 

 lips with several rows of papillse, those of the outer row long and conical and forming 

 a strong fringe on the upper lip ; edge of the rostral flap entire ; a minute barbel in 

 the corner of the mouth, hidden under the folds of the skin; tubercles on the snout, 

 or their pore-like scars, very small or absent. Dorsal fin composed of III 12-14 rays, 

 usually III 13, equally distant from the anterior border or the centre of the eye and 

 the root of the caudal fin, its upper edge straight or slightly convex, the anterior 

 branched rays longest, always longer, and often much longer, than the head. Anal fin 

 with III 5 rays, acutely pointed, as long as or a little shorter than the head, rarely a 

 little longer, often reaching the root of the caudal. Pectoral fin more or less distinctly 

 falcate, nearly as long as or a little longer than the head, not reaching the ventral, the 

 first ray of which falls below the fourth or fifth branched ray of the dorsal. Caudal 

 fin deeply emarginate, crescentic when fully spread out. Caudal peduncle not or but 

 slightly longer than deep. Scales finely striated longitudinally, 40-44 ^~, 4 or 5 

 between the lateral line and the base of the ventral, 16 or 18, rarely 20, round the 

 caudal peduncle. 



As in the preceding species, the upper parts are greyish, olive, greenish brown, or 



