1923.] 



Fauna of the Chilka Lake : Fish. 



763 



been known from sea water, were only captured in the outer channel when the water 

 was quite fresh. Other sea fishes such as Eleotris fusca, Therapon puta, Priopis gym- 

 nocephalus, Tetrodon reticularis, Mugil cunnesius, Dorosoma nasus and Trygon uarnah, 

 have been found to live in salinities varying from fresh water to water as saline as that 

 of the Bay of Bengal. Several species immigrate into the lake at a certain period. 

 Purely freshwater fishes such as Mastacembelus armatus and Ophiocephalus punctatus visit 

 the main area during the rains, while forms like Periophthalmus Jcoelreuteri and Rhabdura 

 macrura are found in the outer channel during a period of drought when the water is as 

 salt as that of the sea outside. 



I hope to have an opportunity shortly of comparing the fish-fauna of the Chilka Lake 

 with that of the Talé Sap, a somewhat similar lagoon connected with the Gulf of Siam, and 

 to publish a paper in vol. VI of the Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 



In the following table the species are arranged in the order in which they have been 

 treated in the report, with a statement as to the specific gravity of the water in which they 

 were taken, their distribution in the lake and their geographical range. 





; 



Distribution nsr 







Specific gravity 



LAKE. 





Species. 



of water in which 







Further distribution. 











specimens were 











taken. 



Main 

 area. 



Outer 

 channel. 





PLAGIOSTOMI. 











SELACHII 











Cakcharimdae. 











Physodon mulleri Müller and Henle . 



1-01075 



X 



... 



Bengal and China. 



Carcharinus gangeticus (Müller and 



1-01075— 1-02375 



X 



... 



Seas and estuaries of India, 



Henle). 









Japan and Fiji. 



„ melanopterus (Quoy and 



1-00325 



... 



X 



Seas of India and Malay 



Gaimard). 









Archipelago. 



JBATOIDEI 











Pristidae. 











Pristis pectinatus Latham 



1-0010 



X 



... 



Tropical and temperate seas. 



Tbygonidae. 











Trygon uarnah (Forskâl) 



1-000—1-0260 



... 



X 



Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Gulf 

 of Siam and East Indies. 



„ par eh Bleeker 



1-000—1-0020 



X 



... 



River Hughli, Bay of Bengal 

 and Malay Archipelago. 



„ imbricata (Schneider) . 



1-00750—1-02375 



X 



X 



East Indies. 



Hypolophits sephen (Forskâl) 



1-00750—1-02375 



X 



X 



Red Sea, Indian Ocean and 

 East Indies. 



Myliobatidae. 











A etobatis flagellu m (Schneider) . . 



? 



X 



X 



Tropical and semi-tropical 

 waters of the world. 



„ guttata (Bloch and Schneider) 



1 



X 



... 



Tropical parts of Indian Ocean. 



Aetomylaeus nichofii (Schneider) 



1-0110 



X 



... 



Seas of India, East Indies and 

 Japan. 



TELEOSTEI. 









- 



MALACOPTERYGII. 











Elopsidae. 











Elops indiens Swainson . 



1-00750—1-01050 



X 



... 



Arabian Sea and Bay of 

 Bengal, entering estuaries. 



Megalops cyprinoides (Broussonet) . 



1-00725 



X 





Indian and Pacific Oceans and 

 their estuaries. 



