22 



2. Origin of dorsal opposite to or behind that of 

 ventrals. 



a. Scales below and behind eye and on opercles. 



1. Dorsal far behind ventrals; its last ray 



above anal; 8 barbels; one pair nasal . Eucirrhichthys p. 26. 



2. Dorsal above or behind ventrals, always 



before anal; 6 or 8 barbels, no nasal ones Lepidocephalus p. 27. 



b. Head without scales ; six barbels Acanthophthalnnis p. 30. 



II. Without prae- or suborbital spine. 



1. Nasal barbels present; head depressed Elxis p. 35. 



2. No nasal barbels, head rounded or compressed. 



a. Dorsal very long, with more than 60 rays . Vaillantella p. 36. 



b. Dorsal short, with 20 or less rays Nemachilus p. 38. 



i. Botia Gray. 



(GRAY, Papers in Zool. Misc. 1841, p. 8). 



Body oblong, compressed, with the dorsal profile more or 

 less arched. Eyes with a free circular orbital margin. A bifid 

 erectile spine before and partly below it. Mouth small, with 

 thick lips. Six to eight barbels. Four anterior ones, united at 



Fig. 6. Botia hymenophysa (Blkr.) X 4 /5- 

 Only the bluish edges of the brown crossbars are visible. 



their base, on the tip of the snout; a pair behind the corner 

 of the mouth and sometimes a pair at the mandibular sym- 

 physis. Scales rudimentary, none on the head. Nostrils close 

 together, nearly midway between eye and snout, the anterior 

 ones tubular. Origin of dorsal in advance of the ventrals. Anal 

 short. Pectorals low down, caudal forked. Pharyngeal teeth 

 conical, in one series. Gillmembranes broadly united with the 

 isthmus. 



Distribution: Fresh water of indo australian Archipelago 

 (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Singapore); South-eastern part of 

 continental Asia and Japan. 



