726 



Memoirs of the Indian Museum. 



[Vol. V, 



There are altogether eight specimens in the collection. In all the specimens the second 

 ray of the ventral fin ends in a prolonged filamentous extension, similar to that shown in 

 Russell's figure though not mentioned by later authors. The upper ridges over the eyes* 

 are black in all the specimens ; the upper two-thirds of the anterior dorsal fin is black or 

 ashy brown in many and in some the membrane joining the spines is covered with 

 minute dark brown spots, the other fins having yellow spots ; a faint black blotch is noticed 

 on the opercle of almost all the specimens. 



The following list shows the different localities in the lake from which the specimens- 

 were obtained and their number and size : — ■ 



1 specimen 



1 „ 



2 specimens 



1 specimen 



1 



2 specimens 



Barkul 



Barkul Bay ... 



Chiriya Island 



Between Maludaikuda 

 and Kalidai 



Samal Island 



Channel between Satpara 

 and Barnikuda 



13th November, 1912 

 1st March, 1914 

 18th February, 1914 



21st September, 1914 

 22nd September, 1913 



4th September, 1914 



mm. 

 135 



86 



78 



53 

 63 



55&58 



The fish appears to be common in the main area and in the outer channel from September 

 to March, the young ones being found in the outer channel after the floods are over. In 

 all probability the fish is a permanent inhabitant of the lake, breeding in the outer channel. 

 Some of the specimens grunted loudly on being removed from the water. 



Distribution. — Seas of India, Bay of Bengal, coasts of Ceylon, Penang, Malay Archi- 

 pelago, seas of China (Canton) and coasts of the Philippine Islands. 



Family GERBIDAE. 

 Genus GERRES, 1 Quoy and Gaimard. 



Gerres öyena (Forskâl). 



1775. Labrus öyena,, Forskâl, Descr. Anim., p. 35. 



1788. Labrus öyena, Linnaeus and Gmelin, Syst. Natur., (Ed. 13th), I, p. 1287. 



1802. Labrus öyena, Lacépède, Hist. Nat. Poiss. Ill, p. 463. 



1802. Ljabrus longirostris, id., ibid., p. 468, pi. xix, fig. 1. 



1802. Sparus britannus, id., ibid., IV, pp. 132 and 134. 



1827. Smaris öyena, Büppell, Ad- Reis. Nord. Afrika, p. 11, pi. iii, fig. 2. 



1829. Gerres öyena, Cuvier, Reg. Anim., Poiss. (2nd Edit.), p. 104. 



1 In 1824 the authors (viz., Quoy and Gaimard) published the " Voyage autour du Monde'" shortly before the 

 second edition of the Règne Animal. In this publication (p. 293) they adopted the genus Gerres from Cuvier's 

 manuscript. In 1829 in the second edition of Reg. Anim. Cuvier established the genus based on seven species, including 

 G. öyena. In 1850, thinking Gerres pre-occupied by Gerris Fabricius — a genus of Hemiptera (1794), Cantor proposed 

 Catochaenum in its place. Gerres, being spelled differently from Gerris, is not pre-occupied (See Proc. California Acad. 

 Sei. (2) V, p. 470.) It should be noted here that the new name Xystaema created by Jordan for some species of Gerres 

 has been withdrawn by the author (The Genera of Fishes, p. 118). Jordan further points out that Gerres and Gerris are 

 words from different roots. Podager proposed as a substitute for Gerres [Natur. Thier. Schul., p. ix] is pre-occupied 

 in birds and thus could not replace Gerres. [Proc. Acad. Nat. Sei. Philadelphia, LXX p. 338 (1918)]. 



