224 
ZOOLOGY OF THE FAR EAST. 
that the specimens were all collected at one season renders it impossible to de- 
termine the precise status of individual species in this respect. It is none the less 
possible to institute a comparison with the Decapod and Stomatopod fauna of the 
Chilka Lake on the Orissa coast of the Bay of Bengal. The two lagoons are in many 
respects closely similar : both are shallow, with a muddy bottom, both are connected 
with the sea and it is practically certain that in the outer part of the Tale Sap, as in 
the Chilka Ivake, the salinity of the water varies considerably at different times of the 
year. One essential difference must be noted, — -that in no part of the Chilka Lake 
does the water remain permanently fresh ; but this discrepancy may be obviated by 
considering for comparative purposes only the fauna of the outer lake of the Tale 
Sap. 
Of the forty-one species of Decapods and Stomatopods which we regarded as 
permanent inhabitants of the Chilka Lake fifteen were found in the Tale Sap, 
namely : — 
Camptandrium sexdentatum, Stimpson. Alpheus paliidicola, Kemp. 
Varuna litterata (Fabricius). Caridina propinqua, de Man. 
Scylla serrata (Forsk^l). . Penaeus carinatus, Dana. 
Neptunus pelagicus (Linn.). Penaeopsis monoceros (Fabricius). 
Clibanarius longitarsis (de Haan). affinis (Milne- Edwards). 
Diogenes avanis, Heller. Lucifer hanseni, Nobili. 
Upogebia [Upogebia] heterocheir, Kemp. Squilla scorpio, Latreille. 
Squilla scorpio var. immaculata, Kemp. 
The majority of these are species of very wide distribution, found in the open sea 
as well as in backwaters, and are consequently of little importance for comparative 
purposes. The occurrence of Camptandrium sexdentatum, Upogebia heterocheir, Alpheus 
paludicola and Caridina propinqua appears, however, to indicate a real relationship 
between the two faunas ; it is also noteworthy that the species of two Oxystome genera 
found in the Tale Sap are closely allied to those obtained in the Chilka Lake. The 
fauna of the Tale Sap, like that of the Chilka Lake, has little in common with that of 
the Gangetic Delta, though the delta occupies a position intermediate between the 
two lagoons so far as the coast-line is concerned. 
The Tale Sap collection is not rich in undescribed species but in a number of 
cases considerable additions are made to our knowledge of the geographical distribu- 
tion. 
The collection also contains a number of species found about fifty miles to the 
south-east of the Tale Sap in the Patani river, below the town of Patani in the Siamese 
Malay States. These specimens belong to sixteen species and were all obtained in 
water that at the time of their capture was quite fresh ; the situation in which they 
were found was, however, subject to tidal influence and there can be no doubt that all 
the species are at times brought into contact with brackish water. The following 
forms were found in the Patani river : — 
