347 



Polyiuanthus ch'uiensis Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. nat. Poiss. VII, 1831, p. 357. 

 Macropodus viridi-aioatus Cuvier & Valenciennes, ibid. p. 373. 

 Macropodus vcnustus Cuvier & Valenciennes, ibid. p. 375- 

 Macropodus occllatus Cantor, Ann. Mag. nat. hist. IX, 1842, p. 484. 

 Polyacanthus paludosus Richardson, Ichth. China. Report British Associat. (1845) 



1846, p. 250. 



Poly acanthus opercularis Richardson, I.e. 



Polyacanthus opercularis Giinther, Cat. Brit. Mus. III. 1859 6l, p. 379. 

 Macropus viridi-auratus Giinther, ibid. p. 382. 

 Pscudosphromcnus opercularis Bleeker, Verh. Akad. Amsterdam, XVIII, 1879, 



Poiss. Chine, p. 2. 

 Polyacanthus opercularis Max Weber, Zool. Ergebn. Reise Nied. Ost-Indien, HI, 



1894, p. 418. 

 Macropodus opercularis Tate Regan, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1909, p. 774. 



D. XIII XIV. 89; A. XVII XX. u 12; P. 1 1 ; V. 1.5; 

 L.I. 28(31) 30(33); L.tr. 13 14. 



Height 2.7 to nearly 3, head 3 or somewhat more in length. 

 Rostro-dorsal profile declivous, somewhat concave on head. 

 Eye 3.2 3.5 in length of head, 1.5 to 1.7 in its postorbital 

 part and less than flat interorbital space, which goes 2.6 to 

 2.8 in head. Snout much shorter than eye. Maxillary reaching 

 vertical through space between nostrils. Praeorbital serrated. 

 Origin of dorsal about opposite to that of anal, which has 

 small scales in addition to basal sheath of 2 series of larger 

 scales. Soft dorsal and anal pointed or strongly produced, in 

 which case the otherwise pointed caudal is bilobed. Pectorals 

 slightly shorter than head without snout. A round black spot, 

 bordered with white, on extremity of operculum ; light brown 

 with dark cross-bars. Length 60 mm. 



Habitat: Highlands of Padang, Sumatra or West Java! 

 China, Cochin China, Formosa, Loo Choo Islands. 



Note: There is much uncertainty about the occurrence 

 of this species in the Archipelago. It was for the first time 

 recorded from there by one of us, who acquired 8 specimens, 

 together with Osphromenus goramy and Tricliopodus trichopterus 

 in West Java or more probably in the Highlands of Padang, 

 Sumatra. Unfortunately this was the only batch of fishes of 

 the extensive collection, made there, of which the label was 

 lost (see M.WEBER 1. s. c. p. 418). Macropodus opercularis has 

 since then (1888) never been rediscovered, neither in Sumatra, 

 nor in Java, nor elswhere in the Archipelago. We doubt there- 

 fore more than ever its occurrence in a free state in the 



