MALAYAN FISHES. 29 
These fishes appear to be monogamous, some breeding in 
gra:sy swamps or the edges of tanks and others in holes in the 
river banks. 
They construct nests amongst the water-weeds where the 
ova are deposited. When very young the fry of all species, Aruan,. 
Toman, Bujok, etc., keep with, and are defended by, their parents, 
but as soon as they are s cufficiently strong to capture prey for them- 
selves, they are driven away to seek their own subsistance: those 
which are too obstinate to leave being eaten by their progenitors. 
The Malays have a saying Bagai toman makan anak, “ Like 
the Toman fish which eats its own young,” which is applied to 
persons in high places who misuse their powers, oppressing those 
whom they should protect. 
The Aruan and Toman will readily take a bait, especially a 
frog, and are said to rise to the salmon fiy. The largest run well 
over 3 feet in length. 
They are caught in great quantities in the Krian irrigation 
reservoir at Bukit Merah and sent alive in tubs all over the F. M.S. 
NANNYGAIT. 
(BERYCIDAE.) 
The Sébékah karang (Myripristis murdjan) is a small fish 
of no particular economic importance. 
The Brerycipak, of which there are about 70 species, live, most- 
ly at great depths, in the seas all over the world. 
The “ Nannygai” of Australia, which belongs to this family, 
is highly esteemed on account of its delicate flavour and firm white 
flesh. Roughley writes, 
“Until recently the supply of ‘ Nannygai’ to the market 
has been an intermittent one, occasional specimens only being 
found there. 
“The trawlers have now quite altered this and large 
quantities are being received from them daily, with the result 
that it is one of the commonest fish seen in the market. 
“ Hundreds of people visiting there in search of trawled 
fish are now seeing the ‘ Nannygai’ for the first time.” 
Oo JO 
I suggest that the capture of the “ Nannygai” and other, 
hitherto unrecorded, species of good edible deep water fish, by 
means of a commercial steam trawler, is well within the region of 
possibility. We have, as a perusal of this book will shew, many fish 
in our waters which range as far as Australia but no engines or 
methods of capture are utilized in our waters which take bottom 
feeding fishes in depths of 50 fathoms. 
