Chap. X.] 



FISHES OF CEYLON. 



365 



Coromandel. Even the enormous area of the Chinese and 

 Japanese seas has as yet not yielded 800 species of fishes. 



The large extent of the collection alone, then, renders it of 

 great importance : but its value is immeasurably enhanced by 

 the two circumstances, — -first, that every drawing was made 

 while the fish retained all that vividness of colouring which 

 becomes lost so soon after its removal from its native element ; 

 and secondly, that when the sketch was finished its subject 

 was carefully labelled, preserved in spirits, and forwarded to 

 England, so that at the present moment the original of every 

 drawing can be subjected to anatomical examination, and 

 compared with already named species. 



Under these circumstances, I do not hesitate to say that the 

 collection is one of the most valuable in existence, and might, 

 if properly worked out, become a large and secure foundation 

 for all future investigation into the ichthyology of the Indian 

 Ocean. 



It would be very hazardous to express an opinion as to the 

 novelty or otherwise of the species and genera figured without 

 the study of the specimens themselves, as the specific distinc- 

 tions of fish are for the most part based upon character — the 

 fin-rays, teeth, the operculum, &c, which can only be made 

 out by close and careful examination of the object, and cannot 

 be represented in ordinary drawings however accurate. 



There are certain groups of fish, however, whose family 

 traits are so marked as to render it almost impossible to mis- 

 take even their portraits, and hence I may venture, without 

 fear of being far wrong, upon a few remarks as to the general 

 features of the ichthyological fauna of Ceylon. 



In our own seas rather less than a tenth of the species of 

 fishes belong to the cod tribe. I have not found one repre- 

 sented in these drawings, nor do either Eussell or Cantor men- 

 tion any in the surrounding seas, and the result is in general 

 harmony with the known laws of distribution of these most 

 useful of fishes. 



On the other hand, the mackerel family, including the tun- 



