386 TWO TEAKS IN THE JUNGLE. 



the creek, and many fisli were found stranded on the mud along 

 the banks, dead and dying. The Malays waded along at the water's 

 edge, knee deep in mud, to secure those that came ashore, and 

 also others that rose to the surface close to the bank. 



Just at the mouth of the creek we found numbers of small fish 

 floating at the surface, of which we easily secured fifteen with our 

 dip-net. All but three were thread fishes, a strange species of 

 Polynemus, which is readily distinguished by the extremely long, 

 white, threadlike filaments, more than twice the length of the 

 whole fish, attached to the pectoral fins. This is, in more respects 

 than one, a very curious fish, as may be seen by an examination of 

 the excellent figure given herewith. 



The Malays were desperately fish-hungry, and I could not in- 

 duce them to sell many of their largest fish, but I consoled myself 

 with the purchase of the smaller ones, and also a very fine large 

 turtle which was caught in a net. 



Among the most interesting species taken were Periophthalmus 

 schlosserii, our old friend of the Selangore mud banks, the air- 

 breathing Ophiocephalus, and the celebrated gourami {Osphro- 

 vienus gourami), a large and fine fish of great economic value, and 

 well known to ichthyologists, especially those engaged in fish cul- 

 ture, fi-om the numerous efforts that have been made, many of 

 them successful, to acclimatize it in various countries from the 

 East Indies to the United States. I found it native to Selangore, 

 where I obtained one very fine specimen. Since there is already 

 an abundance of literature on the gourami, I will add only a refer- 

 ence to the accompanying illustration, which is a reproduction of a 

 figure given by Dr. Theodore N. Gill in his paper on this species, 

 which appeared in the Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Fish 

 and Fisheries in 1876. 



On the tuba-fishing pic-nic referred to above, I was fortunate 

 in securing a specimen of the veiy rare and curious little pike-head 

 {Luciocephalus indcher)* the jaws of which are capable of being 

 protruded far forward, thereby rendering the mouth sub-tubular. 

 The name, Luciocephalus, meaning as it does, "pike-head," is a 

 very apt one, for the head certainly much resembles that of the 

 famihar pike or pickerel of our home waters. The fish, however, is 



* For the identification of the fishes I collected in the Sadong River and its 

 tributaries (35 species), I am under obligations to Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, Cura- 

 tor of Fishes, U. S. National Museum. 



