Fish of the Tale Sap. 
Most of the species represented in the collection being marine, are widely distri- 
buted ; the freshwater forms represent an Indo- Australian element and include certain 
forms, which are found also in Burma and India. The endemic element consists of 
4 species, which are described here as new ; they are distributed^ among the families 
Syngnathidae. Mastacembelidae, Sciaenidae and Taenioididae. The species of the 
former two families are freshwater' forms, while those of the latter are marine. Cer- 
tain species such as Trygon hleekeyi and Barbus {Puntius) bidu are recorded from Siam 
for the first time. 
In instituting a comparison between the fish-fauna of the Tale Sap and that of 
the Chilka Lake it has to be borne in mind that in the former lake Dr Annandale 
worked alone for about three weeks at the extreme end of the wet and the beginning 
of a dry season, which is not at all a favourable time for making a collection of 
Zoological material. The collection from the Chilka Lake is more complete as it was 
the result of observations made at different seasons and at frequent intervals. 
Moreover, in the case of the Chilka Lake the fauna was studied from the point of 
view of varying conditions due to hydrographic and other changes. This is one 
reason which explains the fact that most of the fishes collected at Singgora are 
marine and those at the mouth of the Patalung river are freshwater forms. More- 
over, the inner and the outer parts of the Tale Sap are much better differentiated 
than those of the Chilka Lake and seasonal variations in salinity, etc., of the former, 
of which unfortunately we have no data, must be quite different from those of the 
latter. 
One fact is clear, that there are more species of fish in the Tale Sap than in the 
Chilka Lake. Leaving aside the widely distributed marine element in the fauna of 
the two lakes, in the Tale Sap Indo- Australian forms predominate, while in the Chilka 
Lake, as is but natural, Indian forms are commonly found. That a very small 
endemic element is found in the Tale Sap, as compared with that of the Chilka Lake, 
is probably due to the fact that the collection from the former was less complete. 
However, in both cases the most interesting forms are to be found among the small 
gobies. My new genus Micrapocryptes from the Chilka Lake and the Gangetic delta 
is represented by two specimens in the Tale Sap collection which unfortunately are 
not in good condition for specific identification. Ctenogohius cylindriceps Hora, des- 
cribed from the Chilka Lake, is also found in the Tale Sap. Ctcnogobius alcocki 
(Annandale) an Indian species and widely distributed in the Chilka Lake, is repre- 
sented b}^ several specimens in Dr. xlnnandale's collection from the Tale Sap. 
Another observation worth recording is the fact that Tale Sap serves as a nur- 
sery for a large number of fish species. In Dr. Annandale' s collection at least 15 to 
20 % of the species are represented by young individuals, and it may also be taken 
into consideration that I have not been able to determine several post-larval or very 
young forms. Among others the following species of economic importance were found 
to breed in the lake : Clarias batrachiis, Callichrous bimacidatus, Chirocentrus dorab, 
Hilsa kanagurta, Panchax panchax, Mugil dussumieri, Serranits lanceolatus, Sillago 
sihama, Scatophagus argits, etc., etc. 
