1 86 



0. Gape of mouth small; a free orbital margin; 

 adipose fin very small; nasal barbel present or 

 absent Fangasidae p. 246. 



b. Gape of mouth very large ; no free orbital mar- 

 gin; adipose fin well developed; no nasal barbel. Doiichthyidae p. 333. 

 2. Anal short. Adipose fin well developed, only 



totally wanting in Breitensteinia. 



a. Nostrils close together, separated by a nasal 

 barbel. Gillmembranes confluent with isthmus 



or free Bagaridae p. 262. 



b. Nostrils close together, separated by a valve 

 without nasal barbel. Gillmembranes connected 



with isthmus Ariidae p. 271. 



c. Nostrils remote from each other, the posterior 

 with a nasal barbel. 



K. Teeth on the palate. Gillmembranes free 



from isthmus Bagridae p. 335. 



(3. Palate edentulous; Gillmembranes united 



with isthmus Akysidae p. 365. 



Note: Pimelodus javus shortly described by CuviER & 

 VALENCIENNES (Hist. nat. des Poissons XV, 1840, p. 187) 

 after a specimen said to be from Java, 'is brought by BLEEKER 

 (Atl. ichth. II. 1862, p. 61), with two queries, under the 

 american genus Rhamdia. He says never to have seen in Java 

 a species like it and as according to him, the type in the 

 Leyden Museum is lost, it is impossible to make out what 

 Pimelodus javus C. V. is. 



There is therefore no reason to believe that the american 

 family of the Pimelodidae is represented in the Indo-austra- 

 lian Archipelago. 



i. Fam. Clariidae. 



Body elongate. Head much depressed. Its upper and lateral 

 parts covered with osseous plates, forming a cask covering a 

 diverticulum of the gill-cavity, containing accessory dendritic 

 branchial organs attached to the second and fourth branchial 

 arches. Cranial roof with an occipital and frontal fontanel, its 

 occipital part prolonged in a process. Mouth transverse, ter- 

 minal. Four pairs of barbels: nasal, maxillary, mandibulary 

 and mental. Anterior nostrils short tubes behind the upper 

 lip; posterior nostrils more or less rounded slits behind the 



