many rows of scales are above the lateral line, and how many below
it. For example, the characterizing' formula for the bream, Abramis
brama, is written thus:—
P . 1/ 1 5 —17 > V . 2 / 8 ; D . 3 / 9 — 1 0 ; A . 3 / 2 4 — 2 6 ; C . 1 9 ; L a t e r a l l i n e 5 0 5 5 ;
and means that in that fish each of the pectoral fins contains 1 hard
and from 15-17 soft rays ; each of the ventral fins 2 hard rays and 8
soft; the dorsal fin 3 hard rays and 9 or 10 soft rays ; the anal fin,
3 hard and from 24 to 26 soft rays; the caudal fin, 1 9 full rays (besides
the small upper and lower incomplete rays), and also that there are
on the lateral line, commencing from the upper part of the branchial
crevices to the base of the caudal fin, from 50 to 55 separate scales;
between that line and the base of the dorsal fin, from-12 to 14
longitudinal rows of scales ; and between that lipe and the base of the
ventral fins, 7 or 8 rows of scales. It is here necessary to remark that
to the hard rays in the dorsal and anal fins are also added, in front,
little incomplete rays, often very minute, and almost rudimentary. The
characterizing formula of fishes is often of the utmost importance
in the recognition of the species, to which they belong; it sometimes
happens that a single one of these formulae is sufficient for the
determination of the species, particularly in the carp family.
In describing the species, I have referred to the following works,
besides the above-mentioned “ Ichthyological Faunarof Turkistan ” ■;}-+'
1. Gunther, A., “ Catalogue of the Fishes in the Collection of the
British Museum,” 8 vols. 1859-70.
2. Pallas, P. S., “ Zoographia Rosso-asiatica,” 3vols.,4to. 1831. In
this are described, more or less satisfactorily, all species of Russian
fishes, which were known to Pallas, and it remains up to this day the
principal source of information regarding Russian Ichthyology.
3. Kessler, K., “ Description of the Fishes met with in the Waters
of the St. Petersburg Province.” 8vo. 1864. In it are to be found detailed
descriptions of many of the species of fishes which also belong to
Turkistan.
The Ichthyological Fauna of Turkistan is composed half of European
and half of Asiatic forms ; and these are, in their turn, divided into
several categories. As regards European species, some of them
(Perea flu v ia tilis, Gobio flu v ia tilis, Leuciscus rutilus„ Abramis
brama, Scardinius erythrophthalmus, and Cobitis taenia') are remarkable
for the wideness of their distribution, being met with in the
waters of almost the whole of Europe ; and others (Lucioperca sandra,
Silurus glanis, Cyprinus carpio, Abramis sapa, Aspius rapax, ■
Pelecus cultratus, Alburnus 'chalcoides, Alburnus fasciatus, and
Acipenser schipa) belong to the number of fishes characteristic of'
Eastern Europe, inhabiting principally the waters of the Pontine and
Caspian basins. To the European forms should also be added : Cottus
spinulosus, exceedingly like Cottus gobio, Alburnus taeniatus, very
like the species A . fasciatus, and A . bimaculatus, and Salmo oxianus,
allied to S. trutta and S. fario'. All these European forms belong
principally to the lower course of the Syr-daria, Amu-daria, 'and part
of the Zarafshan.
To the Asiatic forms are related species of the genera: Capoeta,
Barbus, Schizothorax, DiptychUs, Acanthobrama, and partly also to
the genera Alburnus (A . iblioides), Aspius (A . esocinus), and Cobitis
(C. longicauda, C. uranoscopus, C. dorsalis, C. elegans). Certain
representatives of the genera Barbus and Cobitis are, in fact, met with
in Europe, particularly in the S.E , but all the said genera are preeminently
Asiatic. The genera Schizothorax and Diptychus, which
are characterized by a slit sheath on the posterior part of the belly,
belong exclusively, as far as at present known, to the high mountainous
countries of Central Asia. Thus, for instance, the only species of the
genus Diptychus (viz., Diptychus maculatus, Steind.) known up to the
discovery of the Turkistan species, was found in Tibet at the altitude of
11,200 feet. And the Turkistan species (Diptychus Severzovi) was also
obtained by Severtsoff in the rivers Ottuk and Aksai, at the altitude of
xo,ooo feet. Representatives of the genera Capoeta and Acanthobrama
were previously found almost exclusively in the rivers of W. Asia,
Syria, Anatolia, and Persia.
On each journey, however, the most interesting Ichthyological discovery
of Fedchenko was the Scaphirhynchus Fedchenkoi which
inhabits, it appears, the Syr-daria exclusively. The interest of this
find has been further increased by the discovery of a third species of
Scaphirhynchus by M. N. Bogdanoff, in the Amu-daria. From this
it seems that each of the two great rivers emptying into the Aral Sea
(as also the River Mississippi) has its separate representative of the
genus Scaphirhynchus, while almost all the other fishes met with in the
lower parts of the Syr- and the Amu-daria respectively, so far as is known,
do not differ according to locality, but belong to the same species. It
may, therefore, be anticipated that in course of time other species of the
genus Scaphirhynchus will be discovered in the rivers of E. Turkistan
and China (as not long ago was discovered, in the river Yang-tse-kiang,
a species of the genus Spatularitl, the third genus of sturgeons, viz.,
Spatularia gladius, Martens).
Of the 38 species of fishes, known to us up to the present in Turkistan,
no less than 25 belong to the carp family, which, therefore, may
be regarded as completely predominating. This family is also very
rich in representatives in the rivers of S. Europe, W. Asia, and the E.
of India, but does not predominate over all the other families to such
a degree, as in Turkistan. The small number of representatives of the
Silurus (one species) and Salmonidae (one or two species) families is
also very characteristic of the Turkistan Ichthyological fauna, as the
said two families are very rich in species in almost all other mountain
countries.
It is very probable that of the fishes inhabiting the Syr-daria and
Amu-daria many live in the Aral Sea, but this sea remains uninvestigated.
It is only known that the fishermen on the islands of the
Aral catch small sturgeons, silurus, and carp. There is but one
species of fish from the Aral Sea in Fedchenko’s collection— Pelecus
cultratus. Meanwhile, it would be of the highest interest to know
whether other sorts of marine fishes besides the small sturgeon exist
in the Aral Sea, and whether there are not preserved in it descendants
of those species which once inhabited the ancient Pontine-Caspian-Aral
basin. Thus, for example, it is very unlikely that there are in it no
representatives of Gobius, which are so characteristic of the Black and
Caspian Seas.