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Show 1868.] SURGEON F. D A Y O N INDIAN FISHES. 581 Dr. Gunther for families and genera, confining my remarks to species. Commencing with the genus Barbus, representatives of it exist in Southern India in almost every tank or river. These fishes are very valuable as food, though some are more bony than others. The various species termed " Mahseers" belong to this genus; a few of them attain a very large size. In the Madras Presidency the following appears to be the relative economic value of the Barbels, subdividing them by the number, presence, or absence of their appendages. I have not perceived any variations in the species in this respect, except in the Barbus neilli, wherein one barbel was divided into three at its external extremity. All or nearly all those fish having four barbels in the Madras Presidency, provided they are soberly coloured, and either have or are deficient in the lateral blotch, grow to a large size. The brilliantly coloured ones are mostly residents of mountain-streams, or of rivers contiguous to hills, and they are generalby small. Those with two barbels never grow to the large size attained by those with four. They are extensively distributed ; and some, especially when living in mountain-streams, have brilliant colours. Those without barbels are mostly of small size; some of them have a vivid coloration. These facts are, or should be, important considerations in India with respect to stocking new pieces of water; for when large species are required those which have four barbels should be selected, irrespective of the consideration as to whether they have a serrated or smooth dorsal spine. In the Madras Presidency the "Tamil" name for a Carp is " Candee meen" or " Carpfish," but with numerous prefixes to it, differing in different localities, in fact changing about as the thought strikes the native who is being interrogated. Thus the Barbus (Leuciscus) filamentosus, Cuv. & Val., having a red tail, is called " Saal Candee" or "red-tailed Carp ; " the Chela, from its brilliant white colour, the " Vella Candee" or "white Carp ; " the Barilius, from living in rivers, the " Aart Candee " or " river Carp." Having premised this, which shows the general inaccuracy of native names, 1 have still, however, given them when obtained ; but their designations are more generic than specific, or, rather, more family ones than either. BARBUS NEILLI, sp. nov. B. iii. D. J. P. 15. V. 10. A. \. L. 1. 24-26. L. tr. f. Length of specimens from 4 to 36 inches. Length of head f, of pectoral i of base of dorsal \, of base of anal T*T, of caudal | of the total length. Height of head \, of body f, of dorsal fin T\, of ventral }, of anal j\ of the total length. Eves nearly circular, upper margin near the profile; diameter from 2 to \ of length of head, 1| diameter apart and the same distance from end of snout. Head sli°*htly pointed and compressed at the snout. P R O C . Zool. SOC-1868, No. XXXVIII. |