144 FISHES. 



branchiae, and many spinous ones in the dorsal, and even in the anal. 

 The stomach is moderate, rounded, and their pylorus has but three ap- 

 pendages. But one species is known. 



An. testudineus, Cuv.*, called in Jamaica the Paneiri or Tree- 

 Climber, highly celebrated because it not only leaves the water, but, 

 according to Daldorf, even climbs up the shrubs on its banks; this 

 latter assertion, however, is denied. Found throughout all India. 



POLYACANTHUS, KllJll. 



Have their rays spinous, and more numerous than Anabas; the same 

 mouth, scales, and interrupted lateral line; but neither of the opercula is 

 dentated ; the body is compressed, and there are four rays in the branchiae ; 

 a narrow band of small, short, and crowded teeth in the jaws, but none in 

 the palate; the branchial apparatus is more simple, and their pylorus has 

 but two C3?cal appendages. 



Found in rivers, &c. throughout all India f. The 



Macropodus, Lacep. 



Only differ from Polyacanthus in a less extended dorsal, which terminates, 

 as well as the caudal and the ventrals, in a slender point, more or less 

 elongated. The anal is larger than the dorsal. 



These also are fresh-water fishes, found in India and China J. 



Helostoma, Kuhl. 



In addition to the characters of Polyacanthus, the fishes of this genus 

 have a small compressed mouth, so protractile that it has all the appear- 

 ance of protruding and withdrawing between the suborbitals; their very 

 small teeth are attached to the borders of the lips, and not to the jaws or 

 palate: there are five rays in the gills. The arches of the branchiae, on 

 the side next to the mouth, are furnished with lamellae, nearly similar to 

 the external ones, which may also assist in the process of respiration §. 

 Their stomach is small, and has but two pyloric appendages, but their in- 

 testine is very long; the natatory bladder is of a middling size, and its 

 walls are thick. 



Osphrobenusj|, Commers. 



Possess all the characters of Polyacanthus, but the forehead is somewhat 

 concave ; the anal larger than the dorsal, as in Macropodus ; the suborbi- 



* It is the Amphiprion scansor, Bl., Schn., p. 204 and 570, or Perca scandens, Dal- 

 dorf, Lin. Trans. Ill, p. 62. It is also the Anthias testudineus, Bl., pi. 322, and the 

 Coius coboius, Ham. Buchan, pi. xiii, f. 38. 



f Trichnpodus colisa, H. Buchan; — Trich. bejeus, Id. 1 18; — Trick, cotra, Id. 119; — 

 Tr.latius, Id. 120; — Tr. sola, Id. lb.; — Tr. chuna, Id. 121; — Trichogaster fasciatus, 

 Bl., Sclin., pi. xxxvi, p. 164; — CJuetodon chinensis, Bl., pi. ccxviii, f. 1. 



X The Macropode vert dore, Lacep. Ill, xvi, 1, and a new and much more beauti- 

 ful species with alternate red and green bands. 



§ But one species is known (He I. temminckii, Cuv.), from the Moluccas, whieh we 

 shall minutely describe in our Icthyology. 



|| This name is derived from the Greek word osphromai, olfacio, and was invented 



