Kjiô.J Fauna of the Chilka Lake : Fish. 415 



altogether thirty-five specimens belonging to the genus Elops, (viz., seven from Java, 

 three from Ashantee, five from the west coast of America, three from Australia, six 

 from the east coast of America, five from the Philippine Islands, five from Hawaii 

 and one from Hong Kong, China). This series indicated to them that it would not 

 bear out the conclusions reached by Tate Regan. In fact, they thought that their 

 Java specimens represented the species described by Bleeker under the name Elops 

 saurus (nee Linné) and not E. machnata (Forskâl). 



The Chilka series of the genus Elops closely agrees with the Indian species 

 represented by Thomas' specimen from South Canara, as well as with Rüssel' s 

 description and figure (Vizag. Fish., II, p. 63, pi. clxxix). The following extract 

 from Russel's description "the jaws are nearly of equal length, long extractile, the 



under carinate the teeth are marginal, small, not close except in the forepart 



of the lower jaw " clearly shows that in species examined by him the lower jaw was 

 included and the teeth on the praemaxillary exposed. Russel's description of his 

 species is very minute and his figure is excellent. Moreover his vernacular name 

 leaves no doubt about its identity. All these facts make it very clear that Russel's 

 species cannot be E. machnata (Forskâl). Rüssel called it E. saurus, with the descrip- 

 tion of which his species agreed very closely. Swainson, however, was first to 

 realize the necessity of the addition of a new name to distinguish the Indian species 

 from the North American one, and therefore named the former indiens in his classi- 

 fication of fishes (Nat. Hist. Fish. Amph. Rep., II, p. 292). There was no necessity 

 for Swainson to supply any description, as Russel's description, which he adopted, 

 was very minute and exhaustive. Günther also corroborated Russel's description by 

 saying "the lower jaw scarcely projecting beyond the upper" (Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus , 

 VII, p. 470). Day has made this important distinction still more clear with reference 

 to the Indian species by saying that li the under jaw slightly shorter than the upper" 

 (Fish. Ind., II, p. 650). Thus one is compelled to believe that Russel's species of 

 Elops as well as Thomas' specimen, drawn and described by Day, belong to one and 

 the same species as the Chilka form, for all of which Swainson' s name indicus should 

 stand on the grounds of priority. Elops machnata (Forskâl),- which is said to be a 

 species of the Red Sea by Jordan and Richardson (op. cit.), is very different from the 

 Chilka specimens because in E. machmata the lower jaw is not only decidedly longer 

 than the upper jaw but it completely covers the teeth on the praemaxillary bone 

 when the mouth is shut. Of course in dried and stuffed specimens the lower jaw 

 may get artificially fixed to look longer, hence the necessity of an examination of spirit 

 specimens in which the natural position of the jaws is not at all interfered with. 

 No specific locality for Tate Regan's Madras specimen is given; it is therefore 

 difficult to say whether it is a Red Sea specimen forwarded through Madras, or 

 whether it is an imperfectly mounted stuffed specimen in which the lower jaw was 

 artificially fixed further forward than was natural in the species . 



The Chilka form, as has been already shown, falls under the " saurus group ' ' in 

 which Tate Regan has proposed as many as five species ; with the validity of such a 

 large number of species, founded on slight differences under the saurus group of the 



