'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎147r] (298/862)

FAUNA
Indian mahseer. The Tigris salmon is one of the small-scaled forms,
Barbus esocinus of Heckel. It is recorded as attaining a weight of
300 lb. The largest known to have been taken by rod and line
weighed 220 lb. and measured 7 feet. 1
Besides these well-known genera there are species of Varicorhinus,
a genus resembling Barbus but with the lower jaw armed with a sharp
horny edge, and with the teeth of the throat compressed and truncated,
not hooked as in Barbus \ and of Chondrostoma, with a similar jaw, but
with the teeth of the throat in one series instead of three. The carp-
like genus Cyprinion is characteristic of this region, as is Acantho-
brama, a bream with a spine in the dorsal fin. Small fishes allied to
the minnow are found in the upper waters. One of the two species of
Aspius, A. vorax, is peculiar to this river system, and its large mouth
allows one to believe that it lives up to its name, as its European
congener is known to do.
The genus Garra has different geographical affinities. It is well
represented in India and extends through southern Arabia into east
any loach; the sharp-edged mouth, on the lower side of the head, has
a suctorial disk behind it. Together with the Mastacembelus and the
are recorded in the neighbourhood of Aleppo and of Mosul.
Two species of the tiny ‘toothed carps’, an Order including the
well-known mosquito-eating fish, Gambusia, are present in fresh and
occur too, and the Ganges shark has been found as high as Baghdad.
Africa. It is somewhat loach-like in form, but with larger scales than
rker spots two species of the catfish Macrones, the Garra represents an Indian
id species element in this otherwise mainly palaearctic fish fauna. True loaches
ystem are brackish water.
otmloi In addition to the true freshwater fishes, the lower reaches of the
mhhm rivers are invaded by marine species or by species which migrate into
ere are a fresh waters to breed or to feed. The Indian shad, Hilsa, comes up to
iS,v)Uda spawn and two grey mullets come up to feed. A collection from
Basra contained these, an anchovy, a gar-fish, the well-known spotted
ill, spaced Argus-fish (Scatophagus argus), one of the mud-skipper gobies
Am three (Boleophthalmus), and a sea-bream. No doubt puffers and sting-rays
This last is a species well known to be at home in fresh water.
lg® us ) arC 1 The baits used for the ‘Tigris salmon’ are balls of dough and dates, chicken’s
Sark and sheep’s liver, etc. Above Baghdad the fish take spoons as bait.
and Ti^
resembling
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