34 INDIAN FISH AND FISHING. 



perhaps as distinctly among the salmon as any other form 

 in a wild state, and likewise in sticklebacks resident in 

 aquaria ; while, doubtless, fishes which migrate in shoals 

 for breeding purposes, as the mackerel, herrings, or some 

 forms of carp, are all polygamous. 



The time of year at which spawning is effected varies in 

 accordance with the locality and the family of fish. This 

 again appears to be further susceptible of modifications in 

 accordance with the temperature of the water, and many 

 other local causes, while there are some fishes which only 

 breed once a year, others more frequently. I must here 

 premise that some fishes do not appear to feed during the 

 season of depositing their spawn, as the salmon, the shad, 

 and the siluroid Ariince. In India an anadromous shad 

 termed "Pulla" in the Indus, " Ulum " by the Tamils, 

 " Sable-fish " by the Madrassees, " Palasah" by the Telingis, 

 "Hilsa" or "ilisha" in Bengal, " Nga-tha-louk " by the 

 Burmese, breeds in rivers as already described. In Sind 

 they ascend the Indus in February to spawn, descending in 

 September. In the Cauvery, in Madras, they pass up 

 when the first burst of the June monsoon fills the river, and 

 continue doing so for the succeeding four months. In the 

 Kistna, which has a far greater velocity, but, similarly to 

 the Cauvery, is filled in June, they defer their ascent until 

 September, but it is not until the end of the month, or com- 

 mencement of October, when the waters are subsiding, and 

 their velocity decreasing, that the majority arrive ; whereas 

 in the neighbouring river, the Godavery, in which the current 

 is less rapid, these fishes ascend earlier to spawn, being 

 most numerous from July to September. In the Hooghly 

 they continue ascending throughout the June monsoon, and 

 many are found still in roe in September. The main 

 bodies of these fish ascend the large rivers of India and 



