teresting, Bogdanoff points out, from a geological
point of view. In the Palaeozoic period, he says,
the ganoid fishes used to inhabit all the waters of the
world in a great number of forms, and composed
almost entirely the ichthyological fauna of that period.
During the Devonian period this group of fishes
tinguished from the American and Syr-daria species by the following
marks. The head is large, equal to one-third of the entire length of
the fish. The front is broad and flat, and has the form of an equilateral
triangle, with the sides bent out. The bony shields on the “ temeni ”
and between the eyes have sharp spines turned backwards, two pairs
in number. On the upper side of the head, near the summit, are from
3 to 5 long, sharp, small hooks. With other scaphyrhynchi similar
hooks are found in elementary form, or not at all. The plates over the
gills, at each side of the head, have also two hooks. The eyes are
very small; the mouth very broad; the bony shields on the head
are well seen, and not covered with visible skin as in the American
form. The gill covers are broad, and the back border has a soft skin.
The body, beginning from the head, gradually tapers towards the
tail, without any thickening of the abdominal region as with the
American, The rays are fewer in number in the dorsal, pectoral, and
ventral fins, than with the other two species of the scaphyrhynchus.
The root of the tail is very short; the thread with which it ends is long.
The air-bladder is not large, but entirely developed. In the work of
Bogdanoff is a table comparing further the Amu, Syr, and American
forms. The eyes of the Chaklik are smaller than those of the Syr-daria
species, and twice as small as the American ; but the mouth, on the
other hand, is twice as broad. The largest Chaklik caught by Bogdanoff
measured 700 millimetres from the point of the nose to the end
of the tail. The natives say they catch much bigger ones. The colour
of the fish is very changeable, sometimes blackish, and darkly marked.
Some have no markings, but are of yellow tint, through which the pinky
colour of the muscles is seen. Up till now, Bogdanoff says, the
Chaklik has been found in the Amu only between Ust-Uchak and
Nukus. Probably it is to be found in the delta, but not, he thinks, in
the Aral Sea. It does not migrate into the canals, nor the lakes, and
keeps always at the bottom of the river, choosing places with a rapid
current and sand-banks. This, probably, accounts for the natives calling
it “ Tash.-ba.kre,” or “ stone ossitrina.” Its food is exclusively animal,,
such as worms, mollusks, and fish.
Besides the two species already mentioned, I am informed on the
authority of Mr. Alpheraky, that a third species from Turkistan is now
known— Scaphyrhynchus Hermanni, Sem.
seems to have reached its highest development, and
in the strata of this formation are preserved the most
numerous remains of its representatives. In the
succeeding geological period, this group appears to
fall and die out, giving place to the Teleostei, or bony
fishes, of numerous forms and widely distributed. A t
the present time the ganoid fishes are but of 6
forms, with bony skeletons (that is, sub-order Holostei),
and about 20 forms of ganoids, with cartilaginous
skeletons (Chondrostei). T o the last belongs the
family of these Acipenseridae, consisting of four
genera, the Acipenser, Scaphyrhynchus, Polyodon, and
Psepharus. This paucity of forms of a once rich group
of ganoid fishes makes every discovery of great value,
because each newly-discovered species increases the
possibility of tracing the progressive development of
the organisms of the group, and also the history of
their life in the waters of the world, together with the
part they play in nature.
Only three European authors, other than Russians,
so far as I know, have travelled the Lower Oxus,
namely, Professor Vambery, Mr. MacGahan (who,
by-the-bye, was American), and the late Major Wood,
each of whom have published their experiences ; and
now, having added such information as I can, chiefly
from Russian sources, I shall proceed to the description
of my journey to the capital of the Khivan
Khan.