126 Piof. Dr. Max Weber oti the 



{irrived at in liis excellent explanation of the fauna of tlie 

 Indian Archipelago twenty years ago. This author writes: — 

 " In Celebes begins a far greater poverty in freshwater fisiies, 

 inasmuch as from here onwards the true freshwater species 

 are wanting throughout the whole eastern portion of the 



Archipelago It is therefore principally those genera 



regarded above as consisting of migratory and brackish-water 

 fishes, such as eels, several Percoidte, and some Gobioidte, 

 which form the fresliwater fauna in Celebes and the Moluccas, 

 several species of which aj)pear only to have been found in 

 fresh water .... while the majority live also in the sea or 

 at least in brackish water. . . . The very poor development 

 of the freshwater fauna in the eastern half of the Archipelago 

 arises partly from the fact that hardly anything but small 

 rivers or streams exist, with stony bottom and varying depth ; 

 for Celebes, however, this explanation does not hold good, 

 since the lake of Tondano, for instance, contains a consider- 

 able mass of water, in which Cyprinidse and Silurids could 

 feel quite at home. In the absence of these two families of 

 heshwater fishes, the eastern portion of the Archipelago 

 agrees with its eastern and southern neighbours, Australia 

 and the small islands of the Pacific. " 



As I have said, my much richer material only confirms 

 this statement. This may be shortly explained by the con- 

 ditions ofi'ered by Celebes. I select this island advisedly, 

 because it possesi^es the most favourable hydrographical con- 

 ditions for the cultivation of a freshwater fauna, and also 

 because this fauna is much richer on Celebes than on the 

 other islands in the eastern portion of the Archipelago. 

 Another point in selecting Celebes for consideration lies in 

 the peculiar position which it occupies in many respects, and 

 this accounts for the interest long shown in this island by 

 many investigators. 



1'he Table in the original memoir shows that Celebes has at 

 least fifty species of fishes in true fresh water; the numerous 

 other sjjecies given in the same Table, which up to the present 

 have only been recorded from the river-estuaries, are not con- 

 sidered here. Cf these fifty species there are only twenty- five 

 which are not recorded also from the sea or brackish water ; 

 these are: — 



Diiles nipestris, C. f. Gobius lacryraosus, Pet. 



U'berapuu micranthup, £/kr. Sicydium cynoceplialiiiu, C. V. 



Toxotea jacufalor, Fall. ■ iiiicrocephaluni, i>7/i7-. 



Gobiuf bicirrhosus, M. Web. riatjptera aspro, C. V. 



biocellatus, C. ''-'', Agouostoiua plicatile, C. V. 



gramiuepomus, Blkr. ■ oxyrhyuchum, V. V. 



