370 Labyrinthici and Holconoti 



especially of the ventrals, which has obtained for it the generic 

 name Macropodus. To some extent this species has also been 

 made the subject of fish-culture, but with reference to its beauty 

 and exhibition in aquaria and ponds, like the goldfish, rather 

 than for its food qualities. 



"The only other fish of the family that needs mention is the 

 fighting-fish (Betta pugnax). It is cultivated by the natives of 

 Siam, and a special race seems to have been the result of such 

 cultivation. The fishes are kept in glasses of water and fed, 

 among other things, with the larvae of mosquitoes or other 

 aquatic insects. ' The Siamese are as infatuated with the com- 

 bats of these fishes as the Malays are with their cock-fights, and 

 stake on the issue considerable sums, and sometimes their own 

 persons and families. The license to exhibit fish-fights is farmed, 

 and brings a considerable annual revenue to the king of Siam. 

 The species abounds in the rivulets at the foot of the hills of 

 Penang. The inhabitants name it 'pla-kat,' or the 'fighting- 

 fish.' " 



The Helostomidcs are herbivorous, with movable teeth on the 

 lips and with long intestines. Helostoma temmincki lives in 

 the rivers of Java, Borneo, and Sumatra. 



The Luciocephalida of East Indian rivers have the supra- 

 branchial organ small, formed of two gill-arches dilated by a 

 membrane. In these species there are no spines in the dorsal 

 and anal, while in the Anabantida and Osphromenidce numerous 

 spines are developed both in the dorsal and anal. Luciocephalus 

 pulcher indicates a transition toward the Ophicephalidce. 



The Snake-head Mullets : Ophicephalidae. The family of Ophi- 

 cephalidce, snake-head mullets, or China-fishes, placed among 

 the Percesoces by Cope and Boulenger, seems to us nearer 

 the Labyrinthine fishes, of which it is perhaps a degenerate 

 descendant. The body is long, cylindrical, covered with firm 

 scales which on the head are often larger and shield-like. The 

 mouth is large, the head pike-like, and the habit carnivorous and 

 voracious. There are no spines in any of the fins, but the tho- 

 racic position of the ventrals indicates affinity with perch-like 

 forms and the absence of ventral spines seems rather a feature of 

 degradation, the more so as in one genus (Channd) the ventrals 

 are wanting altogether. The numerous species are found in 



