494 



Memoirs of the Indian Museum. 



[Vol. V, 



Genus HEMIRHAMPHUS, Cuvier. 

 Hemirhamphus limbatus, Cuvier and Valenciennes. 



1846. Hemirhamphus limbatus, Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XIX, p. 44. 



1849. Hemirhamphus tridentifer, Cantor, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal (1849), p. 1231. 



1859. Hemirhamphus brachynotopterus, Blyth, Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal (1858), p. 288. 



1878. Hemirhamphus limbatus, Day, Fish. Ind., p. 516, pi. cxix, fig. 3. 



1889. Hemirhamphus limbatus, Id., Faun. Brit. Ind. Fish., II, p. 426. 



There are eighty-eight specimens in the collection, many of which are quite 

 young. They were obtained throughout the year and from all parts of the lake. The 

 species is a permanent inhabitant and breeds in the lake at least twice in the year. 

 In full-grown specimens the caudal fin is truncate in some and lunate in others ; in 

 most of the specimens the lower caudal lobe is the longer. 



In Hamilton Buchanan's volume of manuscript drawings, 1 plate xcv is identified 

 as a figure of H. limbatus, but it is not described anywhere by him. 



The following statement gives the different localities whence the specimens were 

 collected, and their number and size. 



Off Balugaon 



Between Barkuda Island and 

 the mainland 



Off Barkul 



Chiriya Island 



Between Guntasila and Break- 

 fast Island 



Off Guntasila 



Off Kalidai 



1 specimen 

 1 



6 specimens 



3 



1 specimen 



2 specimens 



2 



10 



17 

 8 „ 



1 specimen 



2 specimens 



8 specimens 



5 



3 



Between Kalidai and Samalkuda 



Off Kalupara Ghat.. 



Off Nalbano 



Off Manikpatna (close to sand 



dunes opposite) 

 Off Patsahanipur 



33 3! 



Rambha Bay 



6-111-14 



. measuring 



10 mm 



. 



[6-VÜ-I4 . 



»? 



33 



it 





i3-xi-i2 



>> 



42 



tt 



to 105 mm. 



i7-xi-i4 



»? 



10 



it 



to II ,, 



23-xi-i4 



>> 



32 



it 





i8-xi-i4 



»J 



98 



tt 





5-iii-i4 



)) 



83 



it 



and 95 mm. 



2i-ix-i4 



>> 



4 



1 1 



and 8 ,, 



22-XI-14 



?! 



5 



a 



to 10 mm. 



2i-xi-i4 



• 3 3 



4 



it 



to 40 ,, 



i6-ix-i4 



■- J 



40 



)» 



to 62 „ 



i8-ix-i4 



• ' >) 



83 



a 





3-ÏX-I4 



33 



18 



it 



and 61 mm. 



6-iii-i4 



33 



10 



a 



to 95 „ 



io-iii-14 



• • 3, 



53 



i i 



to 165 ,, 



Feb. 14 



• ■ 33 



24 



mm., 85 mm. 

 and 99 mm. 



15-Ü-14 



• ■ 33 



10 



3 s 



to 15 mm. 



23-IX-14 



33 



7 



3 3 



to 18 ,, 



5 



1 specimen . . Off Sankuda . . . . 17-Ü-14 . . ,, 140 ,, 



This is one of the most extensively used food-fishes of the lake. 



Distribution: — Indian Ocean; sea of Penang ; this is by far the most common 

 species on the Coromandal coast of India and extends to Burma ; it is also found, 

 but more rarely, on the Malabar coast ; it ascends tidal rivers and is sometimes cap- 

 tured in fresh waters. 



Chaudhuri, Mem. Ind. Mus., V, p. 444 (foot-note). 



