FIRST RECORD OF THE ALLIGATOR WEED, ALTERNANTHERA PHILOXEROIDES (MART.) GRISEB. FROM PUNE, MAHARASHTRA

 

GK Wagh, HV Ghate, Vinaya Ghate*

Post-Graduate Research Centre, Department of Zoology, Modern College, Pune 411005, *Agharkar Research Institute, GG Agarkar Road, Pune 411004

 

Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 1995, 92:141-143

 

The genus Alternanthera Forsk. is represented in India by five species, namely A. sessilis, A. pungens, A. tenella, A. paronychioides and A. bettzichiana (Sivarajan and Mathew 1984, Naik and Pokle 1985). These plants are known to attain weed proportions.

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One such aquatic emergent weed showing close resemblance to the genus Alternanthera was seen growing profusely during October 1992 in the river Mutha, which flows through Pune city. Though two of us had spotted this plant growing in the same river, during 1990, it failed to attract the attention of even the angiosperm taxonomists probably because it had not reached weed proportions then. Two earlier reports, one for the river Mutha and its surroundings (Ghate and Vartak 1981) and the other for aquatic angiosperms of entire Maharashtra (Karthikeyan et al. 1982) have not mentioned this plant.

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This weed was found growing luxuriantly along the slow moving and sewage polluted parts of the river Mutha. The plant attains a length of over two metres. Flowering was observed during April and May. Because no species of Alternanthera commonly found in India bears flowers in peduncled heads, there was a delay in identification of this plant. Herbarium collections in Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Western Circle, Pune and Agharkar Herbarium of the Maharashtra Association for the Cultivation of Science (AHMA), Pune, were also not helpful because this plant is not in their collections. We even recently mentioned about this unidentified weed at the "National Conference on Recent Advances in Phytotaxonomy" held at Aurangabad, in June 1993.

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After a thorough examination of the material at hand a literature survey, we now report this plant to be Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb., popularly known as the alligator weed. Our identification is based on the description and key given by Maheshwari (1964), Bennet (1979) and Sivarajan and Mathew (1984).

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Singh and Singh (1985) stated that in Manipur the plant is locally known as ‘Komprek’ and that all parts of the plant except roots are eaten, raw or cooked. They are sold in bundles in markets from May to July in Manipur. Uin West Bengal it is locally known as ‘jal-sanchi’ (Jain 1991). As reported in ‘The Wealth of India’, the plant has high iron content and can be used as a salad. Methane can also be produced from anaerobic fermentation of the plant. The plant can be used as a tertiary filter for domestic sewage as it reduces the suspended solids, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, total phosphorus, B.O.D. and total organic carbon levels in domestic sewage. The plants grown in domestic sewage are reported to be free from toxic levels of trace heavy metals (Anon. 1985). Its use as a vegetable is well known in tribal areas of Assam, Sikkim and Bihar (see Jain 1991). Raju (1986) has reported that it is locally used by some as a green vegetable and by most others as fodder for their cattle and pet rabbits. In one instance, as reported by him, the plant was cultivated in Hanamkonda, Andhra Pradesh, as a forage crop. Madhusoodanan and Ajit Kumar (1993) have reported that the plant is sold in Ernakulam, Kerala, as a delicious leafy vegetable and is locally called as ‘Kozhuppa’.

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From our observations it is quite apparent that this is a fast growing problematic plant. We therefore agree with Sankaran and Narayanan (1971) and Naithani and Raizada (1976), who warn about the aggressive qualities of this plant. We feel that this may become yet another nuisance weed like water hyacinth.

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Raju (1986) mentions that the insect species Agasicles hygrophila Selman and Bogt (Flea beetle), Amynothrips andersoni O’Neill (Thrips) and Vogtia malloi Pastrana (Stem borer) were introduced into USA from Argentina for biological control of the alligator weed.

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Some salient features of this plant are: decumbent hollow stem rooting at lower nodes; leaves opposite, fleshy, oblong lanceolate and narrowed at base; flowers shining silvery white, in long peduncled heads, borne in only one axil of a node; tepals white, apex subacute; stamens five, united below; staminodes equal to the height of the stamens, broader than the filaments, tips divided into 2-4 narrow teeth; ovary rounded at the apex; style short; stigma globose.

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The weed is believed to be originally from Brazil, South America. As far as the distribution of this weed in India is concerned, there are reports from West Bengal and Bihar (Maheshwari 1964), Karnataka (Sankaran and Narayanan 1971), Assam (Baruah and Choudhury 1974), Madhya Pradesh (Naithani and Raizada 1976), Tripura (Deb 1981), Manipur (Singh and Singh 1985), Andhra Pradesh (Raju 1986), Uttar Pradesh (Pangtey and Samant 1989), Delhi (Lal and Shah 1990), Punjab (Bir, Sharma and Singh 1992), Kerala (Madhusoodanan and Ajit Kumar 1993). This report therefore forms the first record of the alligator from Pune, Maharashtra.

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It is interesting, however, to note that although this species was identified by Maheshwari in 1964, apparently it was collected as early as 1940 by Floyd from West Bengal and Bihar (Baruah and Choudhury 1974).

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The specimens are now kept in the AHMA at Agharkar Research Institute, Pune (Voucher Specimens AHMA 17890 to 17892). One specimen will be donated to BSI, Pune.

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REFERENCES

• Anon. 1985. The Wealth of India: A Dictionary of Raw Materials and Industrial Products. Raw Materials Vol. I: A, Revised Edition, CSIR, New Delhi

• Baruah P and S Choudhury. 1974. Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. Amaranthaceae – A new plant record for Assam. J. Univ. Gauhati 20-22:98-100

• Bennet SSR. 1979. Flora of Howrah District. International Book Distributors, Dehra Dun

• Bir SS, M Sharma and CP Singh. 1992. Corrections and additions to the Flora of Gurdaspur District, Punjab. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 89(1):143-145

• Deb DB. 1981. The Flora of Tripura State Vol. II. Today and Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi

• Ghate VS and VD Vartak. 1981. Studies on the aquatic flowering plants from greater Pune area: Part I, Enumeration. J. Univ. Poona, 54:121-129

• Jain SK. 1991. Dictionary of India Folk Medicine and Ethnobotany. Deep Publications, New Delhi

• Karthikeyan S, Anand Kumar and BD Sharma. 1982. Aquatic Angiosperms of Maharashtra. J. Econ. Tax. Bot. 3(2):423-445

• Lal, Chaman and Malavika Sah. 1990. Range extension of three exotic aquatic macrophytes in North India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 87(2):469

• Madhusoodanan PV and KG Ajit Kumar. 1993. Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. – "Alligator Weed’ – A fast spreading weed in Kerala, South India. J. Econ. Tax. Bot. 17(3):651-654

• Maheshwari JK. 1964. Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. A new record for India. Bull. Bot. Sur. Ind. 6:313-314

• Naik VN and DS Pokle. 1985. Genus Alternanthera (Amaranthaceae) in Marathwada. J. Indian Bot. Soc. 64:290-293

• Naithana HB and MB Raizada. 1976. New distributional records of eleven plants in India. India Forester 102:675-691

• Pangtey YPS and SS Samant. 1989. Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. – A new record for North Western Himalaya. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86(1):119-120

• Raju VS. 1986. Alligator weed in Andhra Pradesh. Indian Bot. Reptr. 5(2):207-208

• Sankaran T and E Narayanan. 1971. Occurrence of the alligator weed in South India. Curr. Sci. 40:641

• Singh SR and NJ Singh. 1985. A preliminary ethnobotanical study of wild edible plants in markets of Manipur. J. Econ. Tax. Bot. 6:699-703

• Sivarajan VV and Philip Mathew. 1984. Notes on Indian species of Alternanthera Forsk. (Amaranthaceae) (Kashmir valley excluded) with a new record. Indian Journal of Forestry 7(1):46-53

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CASSIA UNIFLORA MILL. VERSUS PARTHENIUM HYSTEROPHORUS L. – AN ECOLOGICAL STUDY

 

GK Wagh, HV Ghate

Post-graduate Research Centre, Department of Zoology, Modern College, Pune 411005

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Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 1995 Vol. 92:435-436

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For the past few years we have been observing a competition between Cassia uniflora Mill. and Parthenium hysterophorus L. in Pune. Singh (1983) had reported that C. uniflora had been penetrating the areas traditionally occupied by P. hysterophorus.

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A welcome aspect of C. uniflora is the presence of root nodules which may enrich the soil by nitrogen fixation. As such the invasion by C. uniflora on lands dominated by P. hysterophorus – which is known to cause allergic reactions in humans – may in fact prove beneficial, although C. uniflora too is also spreading like a weed.

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In order to substantiate the claim of P. hysterophorus being suppressed by C. uniflora, we undertook a quantitative estimation of the two species using the Quadrat method (Michael 1986). Twenty-eight quadrats of 1m X 1m were laid on vacant lands and along roads to find out the comparative density of C. uniflora and P. hysterophorus.

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It was evident that the number of C. uniflora (700) is much more than the number of P. hysterophorus (281).

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We feel that more such quantitative studies must be carries out in various other places to determine the dominant nature of C. uniflora. Besides, comparative soil analysis of areas dominated by C. uniflora and those dominated by P. hysterophorus will help in deciding whether intentional introduction of C. uniflora in areas dominated by P. hysterophorus could be of help. Agronomists could probably throw more light on this aspect.

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REFERENCES

Michael P 1986 Ecological methods for field and laboratory investigations. Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi

Singh NP 1983 Potential biological control of Parthenium hysterophorus L. Current Science 52(13):644

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FIRST RECORD OF THE BELONTID FISH MACROPODUS CUPANUS VALENCIENNES FROM PUNE, MAHARASHTRA

 

HV Ghate, GK Wagh

 

Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 1991 Vol. 88(1) : 124-125

 

While collecting shrimp from the shallow waters of the river Mutha in a stretch with plenty of aquatic vegetation, a small fish was collected near Vitthalwadi, Maharashtra, in January 1990. The fish looked different from those usually caught. It was brought alive and kept in the laboratory for a week. The colour was greenish, being slightly darker near the dorsal fin. The first ray of each ventral fin was produced into a long scarlet red filament that nearly reached up to the anterior one-third of the anal fin. The soft portion of the dorsal fin was dotted with small black spots, while the distal portion of the anal fin in the posterior one-third showed a large, conspicuous black mark. The caudal fin was lanceolate and was barred with distinct black spots. Many of these characters can be seen even in alcohol preserved specimens. The total length of the fish was 45 mm. From Day’s book it was identified as Polyacanthus cupanus. Later, after its death, the fish was properly preserved and examined carefully. It matched well with the description given by Day (1865, 1889). The fish is now named Macropodus cupanus Valenciennes, as given by Jayaram (1981), who also confirmed our identification.

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A search of the literature on fishes of Pune (formerly Poona) indicated that Macropodus has not so far been recorded from Pune or nearby areas (Fraser 1942 a, b; Hora and Misra 1942, Suter 1943, Tonapi and Mulherkar 1963).

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Day (1865) cited the habitat of this fish as "fresh waters of Malabar and Coromandel". Later (1889) he commented that the fish is "often found in ditches, paddy fields and shallow waters, generally within or not far removed from tidal influence". He also mentioned that it was found "… in the Bhavani at Mettupalaiyam and also along the base of the ghats in Canara. It lurks under sotnes, or among weeds, and becomes very tame in the aquarium. It grows to about 3 inches in length". He had described the colour of the fish as rifle-green.

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Jayaram (1981) included this fish under family Belontidae and subfamily Macropodinae and marked it as the species visiting freshwater; the distribution is given as "… Kerala, Coromandel and Western Ghats". Macropodus has also been reported from brackish water ponds of Goa by Tilak (1973) with a comment on distribution as "… found in pools and ponds along the coasts of India."

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Jones (1940) gave an interesting account of the breeding habits and early embryonic development of this fish. He found the fish to be: common in tanks, lakes and ditches; capable of breathing atmospheric air; capable of burrowing in mud when frightened; an important mosquito larvivore and one in which larvae possess cement glands.

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This report is based on a single specimen, collected alive form the river. An attempt is being made to locate the population around this area.

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REFERENCES

Day F 1865 The Fishes of Malabar. Indian Reprint 1981, by Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun

Day F 1889 The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Fishes Vol II, Indian Reprint1989, by Today and Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi

Fraser AGL 1942a Fish of Poona, Part I. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 43:79-91

Fraser AGL 1942b Fish of Poona, Part III. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 43:452-454

Hora SL and Misra KS 1942 Fish of Poona, Part II. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 43:218-225

Jayaram KC 1981 The Freshwater Fishes of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka – a Handbook. ZSI, Calcutta

Jones S 1940 Notes on breeding habits and early development of Macropodus cupanus (Cuv. & Val.) with special reference to the cement gland of early larva. Rec. India Mus. 32:269-276

Suter M 1943 New records of fish from Poona. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 44:408-414

Tilak R 1973 A study of freshwater and estuarine fishes of Goa, 2. Rec. Zool. Surv. India 67:87-120

Tonapi GT and Mulherkar L 1963 Note on freshwater fauna of Poona – Fishes. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 38:187-197

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE GREY MULLET RHINOMUGIL CORSULA (HAMILTON) (PISCES : MUGILIDAE) FROM WESTERN MAHARASHTRA

 

HV Ghate, GK Wagh

Post-graduate Research Centre, Modern College, Pune 411 005

 

Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 1995 Vol. 92:273-274

 

In 1981, Singh and Pradhan reported the occurrence of Rhinomugil corsula (Ham.) in parts of the river Bhima. However, they reported that this fish is absent from the rivers Mula and Mutha in Pune. During our extensive survey of the Mula-Mutha rivers carried out mainly between 1990 and 1993, it was found that the fish occurs at the Bund Garden, downstream from the confluence of Mula and Mutha. We observed at least 3-4 regular shoals, of about 8-10 fishes each, swimming in the shallow waters beneath the bund wall. It was easy to identify the fish with binoculars because of its peculiar swimming habits aptly described by Hora (1938).

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The fish is very quick and alert and easily escapes cast nets. With considerable effort we could obtain a specimen from this area. The fish was subsequently identified using the key given by Jayaram (1981) and Talwar and Jhingran (1991). During monsoon floods, however, they are often captured in this area. Although present in Mula-Mutha, near their confluence, the fish is certainly not abundant. It is very rarely found in the upper stretches of the Mula river. However, as yet, we have not seen this fish in the Mutha river.

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In addition to the above we have collected the species from Veer dam on river Nira, where it is abundant. It has also been collected from river Tapi near Bhusaval, by one of our students.

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This forms probably the first report of its occurrence from river Tapi, North Maharashtra. Thse fish is also abundant at the Ujani dam on river Bhima (Pradhan and Singh 1984 and also our personal observations). Recently, Manakadan (1993) has reported its occurrence at the Tungabhadra-Krishna confluence in Andhra Pradesh.

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Thus, it is clear that R. corsula is spreading in the Krishna river system. It is reported by Menon and Jayaram (1977) from the Cauvery river system.

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It thus appears that this Gangetic fish is fast spreading all over Peninsular India. It is, in all probability due to accidental introduction along with the seeds of cultivated carps.

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In addition to the above information on the sighting of R. corsula (Ham.), we would also like to mention here that the fish is locally known in Pune as Var-doli (meaning eyes-above) and among fisherfolk of Veer dam, as Bhuit.

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REFERENCES

Hora SL 1938 The biology of the freshwater grey-mullet with observations on aerial vision in fishes. In: A Century of Natural History. Bombay Natural History Society. Oxford University Press, pp.576-581, (1983, reprinted)

Jayaram KC 1981 The freshwater fishes of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta

Manakadan, Ranjit 1993 Occurrence of the freshwater grey-mullet Rhinomugil corsula (Hamilton) at the Tungabhadra-Krishna confluence near Nandikotur, Andhra Pradesh. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 90(3):522-523

Menon AGK and KC Jayaram 1977 The freshwater grey-mullet Rhinomugil corsula (Hamilton) as a fishery resource in the Cauvery river system, South India. Science & Culture 43:302-304

Pradhan MS and DF Singh 1984 First record of the freshwater grey-mullet Rhinomugil corsula (Hamilton) from Maharashtra. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 81(1):202-204

Talwar PK and AG Jhingran 1991 Inland Fishes (Vol. 2) Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi

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ON THE COLOURATION OF ROHTEE OGILBII SYKES (PISCES : CYPRINIDAE : CYPRININAE)

 

HV Ghate, GK Wagh

Post-graduate Research Centre, Modern College, Pune 411 005

 

Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society Vol. 91:326-328 1994

 

Rohtee ogilbii Sykes was described over 150 years ago (see Day 1878, Jayaram 1981, Talwar and Jhingran 1991 for details). Sykes (1841) mentioned the colour of the fish as ‘reddish-purplish silvery on the back, softening into silvery below’. The species was named by Sykes after his good friend and naturalist Mr. Ogilby. However, there was no information on the colour of the young.

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Day (1878), in his FISHES OF INDIA, stated the colour to be ‘ purplish silvery along the back, becoming silvery white from about four rows of scales above the lateral line ... the young sometimes have a dark spot at the base of the caudal fin, and 4 or 5 narrow black bands descending from back to the middle of the side …’. A similar description is given by Talwar and Jhingran (1991). Again there is no illustration. In fact we could not find any illustration of the colour bands in the very young Rohtee (around 3 cm or less). However, there is an illustration of a somewhat larger specimen (see Hora 1937).

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Earlier, in 1977-78, the senior author (HVG) had collected young ones of Rohtee from the river Mutha, Pune, but, due in all probability to lack of proper illustration and/or specimen for comparison, it could only be tentatively diagnosed as Rohtee ogilbii.

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During the past two years we have been collecting the fishes found in the rivers Mula and Mutha as well as Neera. We have collected a series of specimens of Rohtee (from Mula and Neera) showing the colour bands. The photographs clearly give the idea of actual colouration and how it changes as the fish grows.

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In all the eight specimens studied, there are 6 vertical bands. Of these 6 bands, in the antero-posterior direction, the first two are predorsal, the third is just beneath the last unbranched dorsal spine, the fourth starts just beneath the last branched ray of the dorsal fin, the fifth is midway between the end of the dorsal fin and the commencement of caudal fin and the sixth is just before the caudal fin.

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In a very young specimen(total length = 3 cm) all the six bands are complete vertical bands extending from the dorsal to the vertical side. The bands are more or less of uniform breadth. The anterior 3 bands are somewhat thinner and less distinct below the lateral line (LL). Each band is an aggregate of fine black dots spread over 2 to 3 adjacent scale rows (vertical). The distance between the 2 bands is about 6 to 7 scales.

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The bands are prominent even in 9 cm and 12 cm fish, though the bands are fading in the latter specimen. Two 13 cm specimens show further fading of the bands, so that in one specimen there is hardly any band apparent unless carefully looked for. In two specimens, one can observe that the bands become somewhat broader over LL, and the tail band appears as a black blotch rather than a band.

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The bands 2 to 5 are somewhat oblique, going forward and downward while the first band is either straight or going slightly backward and downward. Positionwise, the 6 bands are as follows:

The first band is situated at about half the distance between the dorsal spine and the mouth (predorsal distance), and is slightly oblique. It goes backward and downward behind the operculum and ends just posterior to the origin of pectorals.

The second band is situated at about ¾ the distance between the dorsal spine and the mouth. It too is an oblique band, as mentioned earlier, and it ends under the pectoral fins.

The third band commences just under the dorsal spine and ends just in front of the tip pf the pectoral fins (when pressed).

The fourth band commences just beneath the last branched ray of the dorsal fin and ends just between the tip of the pelvic fin and the origin of the anal fin.

The fifth band starts midway between the end of the dorsal fin and the commencement of the caudal fin. It extends ventrally to end above the middle of the anal fin.

The sixth band is situated just before the caudal fin.

In addition to the above bands, there is a triangular dorsal mark on the head of the fish in the area just behind the eyes. This blotch also fades in larger specimens. We feel that such an illustration will be useful to all concerned with fish taxonomy, especially to newcomers for whom old records are not easily available.

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REFERENCES

Day F 1878 The fishes of India : Being a Natural History of the Fishes known to Inhabit the Seas and Freshwaters of India, Burma and Ceylon. (Indian reprint 1967, Today and Tomorrow’s Publishers, New Delhi)

Hora SL 1937 Systematic position, geographical distribution and evolution of the cyprinid genera with a precumbent dorsal spine. Rec. Indian Museum 39:311-319

Jayaram KC 1981 The freshwater fishes of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta

Sykes WH 1841 On the fishes of Dukhun. Trans. Zool. Soc. London 2:349-379

Talwar PK and Jhingran AG 1991 Inland fishes of India and Adjacent Countries. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi