19*6.] Fauna of the Chilka Lake : Fish. 427 



1878. Clupea Hie. Day, Fish. Ind., p. 638, pi. clxii, fig. 1. 

 1889. Clupea lile, Day, Faun. Brit. Ind., Fish., I, p. 374. 



There are altogether twenty-six specimens in the collection of which only one 

 was obtained in the month of July near Samal Island ; the rest were caught in the 

 main area during the months of February and March, in which period the water of the 

 lake becomes as salt as that of the Bay outside. Probably the species is a seasonal 

 visitor during the season of maximum salinity. It does not breed in the lake, from 

 which it has been previously reported. The following statement will show the different 

 localities from which the specimens were collected and their number and sizes : — 



1 specimen Off Barkul Bungalow . . i-iii-14, measuring 46 mm. 



1 ,, Do. . . 3-Ü1-14. >. 50 mm. 



1 Do. . . ? „ 53 mm. 



4 specimens N.W. of Breakfast Island 17-Ü-14, ,, 48 mm. to 54 mm. 



1 specimen Between Domkuda and Samal I. 18-vii- 14, ,, 58 mm. 



2 specimens N.E. of Kalidai . . 5-iii-i4, ,, 45 mm. 

 1 specimen N.B. of Patsahanipur . . 3-iii-i4, ,, 53 mm. 

 1 ,, S.E. Do. . . 6-iii-i4, ,, 50 mm. 

 1 „ N.E. Do. . . 7- lii - I 4» » 53 mm. 

 1 ,, Two miles S.E. of Patsahanipur 8-1Ü-14, ,. 54 mm. 



4 specimens Eight miles N.E. Do. io-iii-14, ,, 42-50 mm. 



7 ,, Rambha Bay . . . . 2-Ü-14, ,, 42-62 mm. 



1 specimen Do. . . . . 14-Ü-14, ,, 54 mm. 



Distribution: — In the sea, along the West Coast of India, Ceylon, Burma, Siam, 

 and the Malay Archipelago. 



Genus CLUPEA, Linnaeus. 

 Clupea ilisha (Hamilton Buchanan). 



1803. Clupea sp. (Palashah), Rüssel, Vizag. Fish., II, p. 77, pi. cxcviii. 



1822. Clupanodon ilisha, Hamilton Buchanan, Fish. Gang., pp. 243, 382, pi. xix, fig. 93. 



1878. Clupea ilisha, Day, Fish. Ind., p. 640, pi. clxii, fig. 3. 



1889. Clupea ilisha, Day, Faun. Brit. Ind., Fish., I, p. 376, fig. 115. 



There is a specimen in the collection, caught at Barkul in the month of 

 September, 1914, which is 322 mm. in length. Another specimen, 360 mm. in length, 

 which was obtained by netting near Kalidai on the 14th January, 1907, was kept alive 

 for over six hours in an earthen pot. Hence the general belief that C. ilisha always 

 dies immediately on capture is not true — at least of the Chilka race. 1 Probably the 

 high salinity of the water in January might have had something to do with the 

 prolongation of life after capture. The occurrence of C. ilisha in the lake through- 

 out the year and the fact of its not dying off immediately after capture, as well as 

 the comparative freshness of the water of the lake soon after freshets, should prove 

 to be sufficient inducement to practical pisciculturists to attempt ' stripping ' C. 

 ilisha in the lake, though it must remain doubtful if the species breeds there. 



Distribution : — The coasts of India, including Sind and Burma, passing up the 



1 Journal Bengal Fisheries (1907), p. 94, para. 329. 



