132 THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 



Fam. LABYRINTHICI, Cuvier. 



Labyrinthibranchii, pt., Owen. 

 Osphromenoidei, Bleeker. 



Genus AN ABAS, Cuvier. 



Branehiostegals, six ; pseudohranchia? none. Body oblong, compressed : opereles and preorbital 

 serrated. A superbranchial organ, composed of thin lamina?, situated in a cavity above the gills, and rest- 

 ing upon the upper part of the third branchial arch. Eyes lateral. Mouth moderately cleft. Branchial 

 arches with toothed tubercles. Gill openings narrow, membranes join below isthmus. One dorsal fin, 

 the spinous portion more developed than the soft. Anal spines many, but less than those of the dorsal 

 fin, the soft rays nearly equal in extent. Ventrals thoracic. Teeth villiform in jaws, on the anterior 

 and posterior extremity of the vomer ; none on the palatine bones. Sc;des ctenoid, of moderate size. 

 Lateral line interrupted. Air bladder bifid, and produced posteriorly. Pyloric appendages few. 



Anabas SCANDENS. 



Perca scandens, Daldorf, Trans. Linn. Soc. iii. p. 62. 

 Cojus cobojius, Ham. Buck. pp. 98, 370, pi. 13, f. 33. 

 Anabas scandens, Guv. & Vol. vii. p. 333, pi. 193 & 205; Cantor, Catal. p. 82; 



Jerdon, Madras Journ. xv. p. 144; Giinther, Catal. iii. p. 375. 

 Anabas spinosus, Gray, 111. I. Z. ii. p. 189, f. 1. 

 Undee collee, Mai. 



■•? 



B. vi. D. y.^o 8 P. 15. V. 1 A. £!£ . C. 16. L. 1. 27-32. L. tr. f . Vert. \%. Cffic. py. 3. 



Length of head \, of pectoral \, of caudal i, of base of hard dorsal ^, of base of anal \ of total 

 length. Height of head \, of body above \, of hard dorsal 1 1 r , of soft dorsal \, of hard anal fa, of 

 soft anal |, of ventral \ of total length. 



Eyes — Diameter \ length of head, nearly ^ a diameter from end of snout, ] J to 2 diameters 

 apart. 



Body oblong, and slightly compressed in its posterior third, but elevated opposite the dorsal. 

 Head rounded, cheeks and gullet inflated, whilst the head is wider than the body. 



Lower jaw rather the longest. Upper jaw extending backwards to beneath the middle of the 

 orbit. Preorbital strong, and denticulated. Preopercle, with the posterior margin nearly straight, 

 and about twice as long as the inferior : angle with some strong teething. Opercle strongly 

 spined on its posterior margin, also on the angle of the sub-opercle, which is very moveable, and 

 hides the branchiostegal rays. The spines may be said to exist in three distinct patches on the 

 vertical limb of the opercle, and on the subopercle : the superior consists of four or five, with some 

 smaller ones which are above the centre of the opercle : the middle is a little beneath the centre 

 of the opercle, and has a large one above and some smaller ones below; whilst the inferior 

 patch is placed entirely on the subopercle, and has the greatest number of spines and rather the 

 longest, which are continued, but less strongly, along the lower margin of the subopercle. Nostrils 

 at anterior superior angle of the orbit, the anterior is slightly tubular. Suprascapular serrated. 



Teeth — Villiform in jaws, with an external rather conical row. Also villiform on the front of 

 vomer, and on its posterior part. None on palate. 



Fins — The dorsal commences over the posterior margin of the opercle, its spinous portion 



