1922.] S. L- Hora : Central Asiatic Cobitidae, 65 



Lefna , the. definition of which he modified as follows : — " Cirri 8, 

 four rostral, two maxillary and two at the anterior nostrils. 

 Scales present. No erectile spine below the eye. Dorsal fin about 

 over the ventral, with few rays; caudal rounded. Air-bladder 

 with a posterior part free in the abdominal cavity." The genus 

 Elixis was established to comprise those species of Nemachilus 

 which possessed a pair of nasal barbels in addition to six others 

 that surround the mouth. In E. nikkonis, the genotype of the 

 genus, and in E. coreanns subsequently described by Jordan and 

 Starks ' no mention is made as to the nature of the air-bladder in 

 them. I have examined some Indian species of the genus Nema- 

 chilus, such as N. evezardi Day 2 which possess a pair of well- 

 developed nasal barbels but have not found in them a free 

 bladder in the abdominal cavity. It is quite probable that the 

 Japanese species with eight barbels may not possess a free bladder 

 as is said to be present in the Chinese species with eight barbels 

 assigned to the genus Le/ua by Herzenstein. I am led, therefore, 

 to believe that Berg united the two genera merely on the consi- 

 deration of the nasal barbels and paid little attention to the 

 character of the air-bladder. He, moreover, considered Nemachi- 

 lus dixoni Fowler, 8 Elixis coreanus Jordan and Starks and the 

 two forms included by Herzenstein under his genus Lefua as 

 representing only one species, having examined a large number of 

 specimens from widely different localities in China and Korea. I 

 doubt the validity of this statement and suggest a rc-examination 

 of these specimens. There seems to me nothing at present in the 

 definition of Lefua and Elixis, except the presence of nasal barbels, 

 which could justify their separation from Diplophysa and Nemachi- 

 lus respectively, but Annandale and I {op. cit., p. 185) have already 

 pointed out that we do not consider it a character of generic value. 

 I conclude, therefore, that Lefua is a synonym of Diplophysa and 

 Elixis of Nemachilus. 



Quite recently Weber and Beaufort* have recognised the 

 genus Elixis and have referred Nemachilus obesus Vaill, 6 to it only 

 on the character of the nasal barbels. 



In a recent contribution to the ichthyology of Central Asia, 

 Zugmayer " has recognised the genus Diplophysa as distinct from 

 Nemachilus, though closely allied to it. The chief distinction 

 between the two genera lies in the fact that according to Zug- 

 mayer a part of the air-vessel lies free in the abdominal cavity 

 in Diplophysa , whereas in Nemachilus it is wholly enclosed in a 

 bony capsule. Having examined the air-bladder in Diplophysa 

 papilloso-labiata Kessler, Zugmayer states that the two parts are 

 distinct from each other. 



1 Jordan and Starks, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. XXVIII, p. 201, fig. 7 (1905). 



J Day, Fish. India II, p. 613, pi. tliii, fig. 11 '1878). 



s Fowler, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, p. 181 (1899, 1900). 



* Weber and Beaufort, Fishes f ndo- Austral . Archipel. Ill, p. 35, fig. 16 

 (I9f6). 



6 Vaillant, Notes Leyden Mus. XXIV, p. 134 (1902). 



* Zugmayer, Zool. Jahrb. Syst. XXIX, p. 294 (1910). 



