324 INDIAN CYPRINID^. Pceonomince . 



differ little from each other, the back is dark green in C. roliita and C. nandina, 

 but it approaches more to olive in one variety of C. calhasu, and in another to 

 dusky blue ; below the colours vary from yellowish to reddish white, the sides 

 often presenting an ochrey or occasionally a coppery iridescence or gloss. In 

 all, the fins generally are dark, and the rays composing the pectorals slender, 

 while those of the ventrals and anal are more stout and coarse. After they 

 are caught the eyes and skin covering the edges of the opercular plates become 

 bloodshot, an appearance not to be taken for a natural colour. 



Although, as appears in the description of each species, the head differs 

 considerably in size, it may generally be described as short and conical, fl:attened 

 slightly above. The mouth is small and circular, and when opened occupies 

 the apex or anterior part of the head, but at other times a slightly muscular 

 snout closes it in front ; the lips and cirri are pendulous, and the former in 

 particular are strong and muscular, and may be supposed to be used for col- 

 lecting worms, loose seeds, and other detached objects from the bottoms of 

 muddy waters, such as ponds, jeels, and sluggish rivers. Indeed the frequent 

 examinations that I have made of the contents of their abdominal canal 

 places the certainty of this beyond supposition, at the same time it is necessary 

 to observe that vegetable substances constitute by far the largest proportion 

 of their food, which would seem to be obtained by stirring the deposits at 

 the bottom of stagnant waters by means of the snout and its appendages. 



In C. calhasu the stomach is a lengthy sac gradually narrowing to the 

 capacity of the intestine, which is extremely long and loaded with a grey 

 opaque matter, which seems to change in its passage through the intestines to 

 a leaden hue ; sometimes the contents of the intestine are greenish, but I 

 have seldom found the scales or testaceous parts of other animals in the sto- 

 mach of any of these species. 



The liver is a dark red coloured organ consisting of three elongated lobes, 

 the gall-bladder is large, and the air vessel is divided into two cells, the pos- 

 terior of which is smaller than the anterior^ 



