228 CYPBINID.E. 



13. BARBUS INTERMEDIUS. 

 (Plate XXXIX. fig. 2.) 



Riippell, Mus. Senckenb. ii. p. 7, pi. i. fig. 2 (1837) ; Bonlenger, Ann. & Mag. N. H. 



(7) x. 1902, p. 424. 



Depth of body three and one-fifth to four times in the total length, length of head 

 three and three-fourths to four and a half times. Snout rounded, three to three and a 

 half times in length of head ; diameter of eye three and a half (young) to six times in 

 length of head, interorbital width twice and two-thirds to three and one-fourth times ; 

 mouth inferior, its width four to Rve times in length of head ; lips moderate, interrupted 

 on the chin ; barbels two on each side, anterior two-thirds to one and a half diameters 

 of eye, posterior one to one and two-thirds (less in the young), the distance between 

 them nearly as long as the diameter of the eye in the adult, one-half in the young. 

 Dorsal fin with IV 8-9 rays, last simple ray very strong, bony, not serrated, straight or 

 feebly curved, one-half to three-fourths the length of the head in the adult, nearly 

 as long as the head or even longer in the young; free edge of the fin emarginate ; its 

 distance from the occiput a little less than its distance from the caudal. Anal tin with 

 III 5 rays, longest ray two-thirds to five-sixths the length of the head, often reaching 

 or nearly reaching root of caudal. Pectoral fin at least four-fifths the length of the 

 head, sometimes as long as the head, not reaching the ventral. Latter below anterior 

 rays of dorsal. Caudal fin deeply forked. Caudal peduncle once and a half to 

 twice as long as deep. Scales longitudinally striated, 30-38 |Fp, 2J or 3 between 

 lateral line and ventral, 12 (rarely 14) round caudal peduncle. 



Several coloured sketches were made from living specimens by Mr. Degen. They 

 show the upper parts to vary from olive to bluish green or vivid green, the sides from 

 pale greenish to golden yellow, the belly often flesh-coloured; fins brown or olive, the 

 pectorals, ventrals, and anal sometimes tinged with pink, the caudal sometimes of a 

 vivid green ; iris yellow, or bronzy with a yellow circle round the pupil. Some 

 specimens are described by Mr. Zaphiro as of a fine yellow all over the body. 



The largest out of about sixty specimens collected by Mr. Degen measures 

 400 millimetres. 



This JBarbus varies much in form, and in the relative length of the spine of the 

 dorsal fin and of the barbels, the former being longer, the latter shorter in the young 

 than in the adult, as may be seen from the following table of measurements. 



This species is common in Lake Tsana. Specimens have been obtained by 

 Mr. Zaphiro in the Didessa River (altitude 1500 feet), flowing into the Blue Nile, and 

 its tributary the Juju River (altitude 2000 feet). The species is not confined to the 

 Nile system, as specimens from the Sire, Ganda, and Zeissi Rivers, flowing into 



