They appear to be of one sort only, viz., barbel, but are abundant, and often grow to a considerable size.

Chardin supposed them to be unfit for food; but a later observer declares that, though of no great delicacy, they are "perfectly sweet and wholesome." Of reptiles, the most common are snakes, lizards, and tortoises.

In the long grass of the Moghan district, on the lower course of the Araxes, the snakes are so numerous and venomous that many parts of the plain are thereby rendered impassable in the summer-time.

A similar abundance of this reptile near the western entrance of the Girduni Siyaluk pass induces the natives to abstain from using it except in winter.

Lizards of many forms and hues disport themselves about the rocks and stones, some quite small, others two feet or more in length.