39 MALAYAN FISHES. 
Roughley writes, “ The most prolific grounds are found to be 
between 50 and 60 fathoms in depth,” and again, “ Many species, 
which before the advent of trawling were very rarely seen in the 
markets and which were in fact considered by many to occur only 
in small numbers on our coast, could now be counted in thou- 
sands.” 
KNIGHT-FISHES. 
(MONOCENTRIDAE.) 
The Setonggang (Monocentris japonicus) is a curious little 
fish with enormous bony scales and two long ventral spines. It 
has no edible value. 
, 
“ BULL’S-EYES.” 
(PEMPHERIDAE.) 
I have no personal knowledge of these fishes and, as they are 
never captured in numbers, they are unimportant from an economic 
standpoint, 
“ DRUMMERS.” 
(KY PHOSIDAE.) 
The Telan rumput (Ayphosus cinerascens) as its name ex- 
plains is a herbivorous fish, subsisting chiefly on “ sea-grass”’ and 
“sea-moss.” It is a congener of the Drummer of New South 
Wales (Ayphosus sydneyanus) and belongs to the same family as 
that excellent food and sporting fish known in New South Wales 
as the Blackfish. 
DUSKY-PERCH. 
(LOBOTIDAB.) 
The Péchah périok (Lobotes surinamensis) is a large perch- 
like estuary fish which reaches a length of 3 or 4 feet and a 
weight of 25 to 30 pounds. It is known in Australia as the Dusky 
Perch. 
According to Boulenger’s classification, the family contains 
two genera, Lobotes and’ Datnioides, each with two species, and 
though the two species of Datnioides are known to occur in the 
estuaries and rivers of the Malay Peninsula, they have not yet, as 
far as | am aware, been identified under a Malay name. 
The Péchah périok is an excellent food fish and it readily 
takes a fish bait. 
It has a very wide range, being found in Queensland, the West 
Indies, on the east coast of the United States of America, as far 
North as Cape Cod, in the Mediterranean Sea, India and China. 
