450 BULLETIN 18S, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



observed out-of-water movements of an Anahas in Peninsular Siam. This fish 

 had been living in a small pool in a detached circular garden thickly planted 

 with flowers and shrubs, but was removed when the pool was to be cleaned. 

 It was taken by a servant for release in a stream on the edge of the compound. 

 The servant, however, was called away and he put down the basket containing 

 the fish just before reaching the stream. The fish immediately climbed out and, 

 instead of entering the nearby stream, headed back in the direction of the pooL 

 Its subsequent movements were partly conjectured but were under observation 

 during the latter half of the journey. The fish first passed through grass and 

 then over a metaled driveway between houses; and on arriving at the garden 

 it continued on the driveway to the far side and then made a short turn, 

 plunged through the flower beds, and reentered the pool. The distance traveled 

 was about 300 feet and the time occupied was about 30 minutes. This particu- 

 lar fish, in addition to progressing readily on dry land and breathing atmospheric 

 air, had well-developed aerial vision (which is rare in fishes) and seemed to 

 exhibit a homing instinct. 



AnaMs is a valuable food fish in India, Burma, Siam, Malaya, China, and the 

 islands lying off the southeast coast of Asia. Its importance to man arises 

 from the inherent edible quality of its flesh, from the adaptability of the fish to 

 almost any kind of water, and from its hardiness, which permits easy handling 

 in commerce. 



Young Siamese anglers sometimes insert the head of a newly caught AnaMs 

 between their teeth so as to leave both hands free to rebait and recast the line, 

 while in India fishermen often kill their catch by putting the fish in their mouths 

 and biting the backbone just behind the head. On rare occasions this practice 

 has led to dire consequences, for the fish has given a jerk, wriggled into the back 

 of the angler's mouth, and become lodged in the pharynx, from which extraction 

 is almost impossible owing to the strong backward-projecting spines on the 

 sides of the head. When in India I learned of several deaths from suffocation 

 when Anahas became tightly impacted over the windpipe of fishermen, and Dr. 

 E. W. Gudger, of the American Museum of Natural History, has published 

 accounts of these and many other cases in which oriental children and adults 

 have been killed by having live fish wedged in the pharynx. 



Over most of Thailand this fish is known as pla mor (doctor fish), 

 sometimes, as in the Bangkok region, amplified to fla mor thai. In 

 parts of Northern Thailand the Lao name 7>?<2 sadet is in common use. 



Genus HELOSTOMA Kuhl and van Hasselt 



Helostoma Ktjhl and van Hasselt, in Cuvier, Le r§gne animal, ed. 2, vol. 2, 

 p. 228, 1829'. (Type, Helostoma temminckii Cuvier and Valenciennes.) 



HELOSTOMA TEMMINCKII Cuvier and Valenciennes 



Helostoma temminckii Cuvier, and Valenciennes, 1831, vol. 7, p. 342 (Java). — 

 Bleekek, 1859-60 (239), p. lOl (Siam).— Sauvage, 18S1, p. 160 (Siam); 

 1883b, p. 151 (Menam Chao Phya). 



Helostoma temmincki Bleekek, 1865 (356), p. 173 (Siam). — Webeb and de Beau- 

 POBT, 1922, vol. 4, p. 340 (Siam). 



Helostoma Smith, 1925, p. 59 (Siam). 



From Java, Borneo, and Sumatra the range of this species extends 

 through the Malay Peninsula well into Central Thailand. While 



