9. BETTA. ■ 389 



2. Betta pugnax. 



Macropodus pugnax, Cant. Catal. p. 84. pi. 2. figs. 1-4. 

 Betta anabatoides, Bleek. Borneo, ii. p. 269. 

 Pla Kat of the Siamese. 



B. 6. D. 9-10. A. 27-28. L. lat. 32. L. tran.sv. 10. 

 Caec. pylor. 0. Vert. 10/18. 

 Lateral line inconspicuous. Body with blackish cross-bars and 

 silvery longitudinal streaks ; two or three black bands on the side of 

 the head, the upper one rimning thi'ough the eye. 



Var. Head and body with two black longitudinal bands, one 

 running from the muzzle through the eye to the root of the caudal fin. 

 Dried specimens uniform brownish. 

 Pinang. Malayan Peninsula. East Indian Archipelago. 



a. Eine specimen. Pinang. From Dr. Cantor's Collection. 



h-c. Adult : skins. Pinang. From Dr. Cantor's Collection. — Types 



of the species. 

 d. Young. From the Haslar Collection. 



Dr. Cantor, who first described this species, says that the fighting 

 propensities are greatest in the variety mentioned, which appears to 

 have been produced diu'ing a long period of domestication. Dr. von 

 Bleeker has observed that peculiarity also in specimens from other 

 parts of the East Indian Archipelago. All the species of this family 

 appear to be capable of being domesticated, and some of them deserve 

 particular attention on account of the dazzling beauty of their colours 

 or the flavour of their flesh. 



