Fish are stowed beneath the floor boards of the boat's deck to protect them from the sun. The traditional vessels do not carry ice and it is important to keep these fish out of the sun so that they do not spoil. Each of the panels is numbered so that they can be fit back into the sequence for the deck. The fish depicted here is the sua (Baluch name) or Protnibea diacanthus. This fish is an extremely important economic fish during the summer monsoon months.
Sua has a neurocrania that is very similar in initial appearance to another fish, dhoter or Pomadasys hasta (see Slide 21). This has caused these local names to be somewhat confused in the archaeological literature. But to put it straight: sua is Protonibea diachanthus, an extremely important fish during the summer monsoon seasons (both today and in the past), while dhoter is Pomadasys hasta, an extremely important fish during the fall, post-monsoon fishing season (see Slide 11).