22 gangetic fishes. Order II. 



In Bengal fishes of the eel kind are seldom eaten except by 

 the lower classes of natives, and by Europeans ; nor, in an eco- 

 nomical point of view, are they of any considerable import- 

 ance ; as, although of uncommon variety, and found in every 

 part of the Gangetic provinces, they are no where in such 

 abundance as to be of consequence. Perhaps, however, the 

 smallness of the number taken may be owing to the want of 

 demand, and the consequent neglect of the fishermen. I have 

 not been able to trace the source of what Pliny states 

 (Hist. Mundi, L. IX. c. iii.) concerning the immense length of 

 the eels in the Ganges, which he says are three hundred feet 

 long. All that I have seen or heard of were of dimensions, 

 that, in Europe, would be considered moderate ; nor do I know 

 any other animal in the Ganges of dimensions that could have 

 given rise to such an exaggeration. 



1st Species. — Murn^a anguilla. 



A murcena with the under jaw the longest ; with about a 

 hundred i'ays in the anal fin, which is united with those of the 

 tail and back ; and without spots on the back or tail. 



Murcena anguilla, La Cepede, Hist, des Poissons, Tome II. 

 p. 225. 



Chowloo Pamoo or Malgumaroo, Russell's Indian Fishes, 

 Vol. I. No. 81. 



This eel, which is exactly the same with the common eel of 

 Europe, I found in the marshes communicating with the Tista. 

 It is astonishing that La Cepede should make such a fuss about 

 an animal which has every appearance of a serpent without the 

 vivid colours, by which most of these reptiles are adorned. It 

 is an irritable creature, swelling its head whenever angered ; and 

 constantly, when it can, buries itself in putrescent carcasses. 

 In our Indian marshes its upper parts are of a dirty green 



