FISHES 



221 



tails with a tin above and below, lead an aquatic life during the early stages 



of their existence. 



Like the reptiles, the fishes of the islands under consideration 

 Fishes. . 



are to a great extent similar to those ot the mainland. The labyrinth- 



gilled perches, taking their name from the complicated structure of their gill- 

 chambers, which are modified to enable their owners to live for a considerable time 

 out of water, are represented by three generic types in the islands, one of which 

 is known only by a single species, the celebrated climbing-perch Anabas scandens, 

 whose range extends from India to the Philippines. This fish works its way through 

 herbage on the ground by means of its pectoral fins, and is somewhat doubtfully 

 reported to climb trees in a similar manner. Isine inches is the usual length of 

 this fish. In an allied genus the paradise-fish (Polyacanthus signatus) affords an 

 example of what is known as discontinuous distribution, since it occurs in Ceylon 



THE GURAMI. 



and Java and nowhere else. A third type is represented in Java, Sumatra, and 

 Borneo by the gurami (Osphromenus olfax), one of the best flavoured fresh- water 

 fishes of the Malay province. It has been acclimatised in Mauritius, Cayenne, and 

 Australia, and attains a length of over 5 feet. In shape the gurami is not unlike 

 a large turbot, and it is one of the few fishes which build nests. This nest, which 

 is ball-shaped and constructed of plants, is built by the united efforts of the two sexes. 

 Very characteristic of the Indo-Malay fresh waters are the big-headed and 

 long-bodied fishes of the family Ophiocephalidae. There are two genera, Ophio- 

 cephalus and Chorum ; three of the representatives of the former being African. A 

 well-known species is the lula (0. striatus) of India and Ceylon, which constructs 

 a nest and hatching-place for its eggs by beating back the rushes in the shallow 

 portion of a tank with its tail, and then biting off the ends of weeds left growing 

 in the water so as to clear a space of sufficient size to serve the purpose of a nursery. 

 Ways leading to and from the nest are cleared, and in these both parents take up 

 their position during the breeding season, although the male, which is the smaller,, 



