330 



On the Fresh Water 



[No. 35, 



Opsarius dualis. New Species. 



Head 4| times in the length of body and height 3| in the same ; 

 eye small ; profile of back barely arched to the dorsal ; thence con- 

 cave ; that of abdomen regularly arching ; dorsal fin behind the 

 middle; 42 scales along the sides in 11 rows — D. 9, A. 10 — 

 green above, golden on the sides with transverse bars ; silvery be- 

 neath ; fins white, tipped with orange ; all the scales with a small 

 black spot on the middle — about 4 to 5 inches long. I have found 

 this fish in tanks and the rivers at Coimbatoor, and also in the river 

 at Palghat. This is one of the few fish which I have found in rivers 

 running both to the east and west coast, and it occurs just in that 

 part of the country where the two districts are most nearly connect- 

 ed without the intervention of hills, viz., in the gap of Coimbatoor. 

 This is an interesting subject on which much speculation might be 

 advanced, but it would be out of place here. 



It is by no means a typical Opsarius^ though its mode of coloration 

 allies it to them, its mouth being much more horizontal ; and it ap- 

 pears very closely allied to the Leuciscus cocsa, (Buch.) which how- 

 ever is said to have 4 cirri, and moreover is from the north of India. 



I procured some small specimens, about H inches long, of what I 

 imagine is the young of this species, in a river in the Salem district. 



Gen. Aplocheilus. McLelland. 



Head flattened at the top, broad obtuse ; interrnaxillaries fixed ; 

 mouth large oblique ; teeth large ; dorsal fin behind, small ; anal fin 

 large ; ventrals small. 



Aplocheilus vittatus. New Species. 



Head large, opercula somewhat scaly ; profile of back straight ; 

 dorsal with a black spot at base, another on the opercula ; olive 

 brown above, silvery beneath ; a series of vertical indigo blue bands 

 on the posterior half of the body, 7, 8 or 9 in number ; dorsal, anal 

 and caudal fins blue spotted, and red edged ; pectoral and ventral fins 



colourless ; a silver spot on the occiput — D. 8, A. 17 up to 2^ 



inches long. Found in ditches, ponds and rivers in Malabar. This 

 and the other species of the genus are insectivorous, keeping almost 

 entirely to the very surface of the water, and darthig with great ra- 

 pidity on any insects that drop into the water. 



