On the Fresh Water 



[No. 35, 



It is much esteemed by the Natives and is by no means a bad fish. 

 It is very voracious, and is often taken with a fish or frog for a bait. 

 It is a sluggish fish in its habits, and when taken does not afibrd 

 much sport to the angler. It may be considered as the pike of In- 

 dian fishing. If it is identical, as Valenciennes asserts, with Buch- 

 anan's S. voalis, that name will have the preference. 



Silurus Mysoricus. Val. 



Head about 6 times in total length of body ; eye about 5| times 

 in the length of head ; height at the pectorals 5 times in its total 

 length ; caudal lobed, the lobes nearly of equal length, but the up- 

 per one the most rounded of the two ; dorsal very narrow ; pectoral 

 spine moderate, smooth ; maxillary cirrus reaches little beyond the 

 pectoral ; muzzle very obtuse— D. 4, A. 75. 



Greenish above, iridescent on the sides and beneath ; fins glossy. 

 Length up to 12 or 14 inches. 



Found in the Oavery and most of its tributaries ; also in tanks 

 throughout Mysore. It is most excellent eating. It is called God- 

 la by the Canarese fishermen of Mysore. 



Silurus Malaharicus. C. V. 



Lower jaw much longer than the upper; pectoral spine of moderate 

 strength, toothed — D. 4, A. 62-64 — ending very near the caudal, 

 which is deeply lobed ; of a yellowish colour throughout, except on 

 the abdomen which is white ; fins edged with black ; up to 12 or 

 14 inches long. I have only seen this Silurus from rivers in Malabar. 



^Silurus himaculatus . Bl., C. V. 



Head equal to the depth at the vent, and 5i times in the total 

 length of the fish ; breadth of head two-thirds of its length ; maxil- 

 lary cirrus nearly 2 the length of the body ; inferior cirri short and 

 slender; pectoral fin rounded — D. 4, A. 62-65 — lateral line straight, 

 6 to 8 inches long. 



The specimens whence Valenciennes' full description of this spe- 

 cies is taken, were brought from Java. M.Valenciennes is inclined to 

 identify it with the fish sent from Tranquebar and described under 

 this name by Bloch. This is however, I think, very improbable, as so 

 very few fresh water fish, common to the Peninsula and the isles, 

 are at present known, and I should be inclined to imagine it either to 



