DISTRIBUTION OF INDIAN FRESHWATER FISHES. 



563 



19. Thynniclithys, 20. Chela, 21. Botia, 22. Acanthopsis, 23. Lepi- 

 docephalichthys, 24. Amphipnous, 25. Symhranclius, and 26. Mo- 

 nopterm. 



Among those genera which are restricted to the Hindustan sub- 

 region we have : — 1. Ailia, 2. Ailichthys, 3. Sisor, 4. Nangra, 5. J^si- 

 lorhynchus, and 6. Somileptes, all being found in the deltas of the 

 rivers Indus, Granges, and Bramaputra, or their affluents. Ee- 

 stricted to the Ceylonese suhregion we have 1. Etroplus, 2. Jerdo- 

 nia. The following are found in the Ceylonese and Hindustan 

 suhregions, also in Burma: — 1. Badis,2. SaccobraneJius,S. JRohtee, 

 4. Amblypharyngodon, 5. Nuria, 6. Danio, 7. Perilampus, 8. Semi- 

 plotiis, and 9. Amphipnous. Bestricted to Hindustan and Burma : — 

 1. Trichogaster, 2. Urethistes, 3. Bita, 4. Silundia, 5. JEutropiich- 

 thys, 6. Gagata, 7. Catla, 8. Aspidoparia, and 9. Acanthophthalmus. 



Having thus briefly examined what the Indian freshwater fish- 

 fauna is as a whole, we next come to the consideration of what is the 

 Fish-fauna of Ceylon ? Here a great difficulty exists, as the fishes 

 of that island still remain to be thoroughly worked out. Bieeker*8 

 ' Cobitoides et de Cyprinoides de Ceylan ' unfortunately does not 

 enumerate the localities whence his examples were obtained ; 

 consequently one is ignorant as to whether they came from the 

 northern or southern districts, or from both. And this question 

 is important when examining into the zoology of that island, the 

 southern portion consisting of hill-tracts which Mr. Blanford 

 classes with Malabar and the " low country on the west coast of 

 India from Cape Comorin to a little north of Bombay, and a range 

 of hills near the same coast as far north probably as the Tapti 

 river." The northern portion of Ceylon, he considers, belongs to 

 the Indian province or subregion. 



Some materials, however, exist for investigating this question, 

 as we know of 41 species of freshwater fishes belonging to 29 

 genera inhabiting Ceylon. The genera consist of 9 Acantho- 

 pterygians, 6 Siluroids, 1 Scombresocid, 1 Cyprinodont, and 12 

 Cyprinoids, with one exception, all having representatives in 

 Malabar, the single exception being the genus Ckanna, very 

 closely allied to the ubiquitous Indian genus Ophiocephalus, from 

 which it is separated because it is deficient of ventral fins. 



The 41 species consist of : — 13 Acanthopterygians, 9 of which 

 extend through India and Malabar ; 1 to Southern India and Mala- 

 bar; 1 to Java and China; whilst 1 is restricted to Ceylon. 

 7 Siluroids, 4 of which are distributed through India and Malabar ; 



41* 



