BOG ICHTHYOLOGY. 



AMPHIBIOUS SNaKE-HEAD. 



Two or three species of ophiocephalus are very common. 

 They are fresh-water fish, appropriately named,? for the 

 head is very much like a snake's head, and they are re- 

 markable for the power of making their way from one pool 

 to another on land. One species it is said, usually lives 

 in hollow logs and holes, never in streams, and often a long 

 time in the jungle without water, It appears to be either 

 the same species, or a nearly related one to the bura- 

 chang of Boutan, which the natives believe falls from hea- 

 ven, from the circumstance of its being found after 

 rain far from the water. Some of the Karens regard these 

 with a superstitious awe, and abstain from eating them. 

 They have a legend that they were formerly men, changed 

 into fish for their sins ; and the Pwo Karens at Tavoy say : 

 " If people eat them, they will be transformed to lions." 

 The fame of this fish had reached Greece more than two 

 thousand years ago, for it is mentioned as a remarkable 

 Indian fish by Theophrastus. 



Ophiocephalus amphibtus ? 

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SPOTTED SNAKE-HEAD. 



A species of ophiocephalus common at Maulmain, is 

 remarkable for three black spots on the body just below 

 the lateral line, at equal distances between the termina- 

 tion of the pectoral fins and the base of the caudal ; and 

 a bright red circle on the base of the upper lobe of the 

 caudal fin, occupying nearly the whole breadth, with a 

 deep black centre. Two small black dots are seen on 

 the same lobe a little above the circle, and the dorsal and 

 anal fins are spotted with white at the base, while these 

 with the caudal are nearly black on the margin. In some 

 specimens a reddish stripe runs from the eye just above 

 the lateral line to the red spot on the tail. The back is 

 dark, and the belly of a light or whitish colour. A full 

 grown one is said to be a yard long. The fin-rays are, 



D : 50. P. 16 : V. 5 : A. 36 : C. 12. (long rays.) 

 Ophiocephalus. 



