CHAP. XII.] THE ORIENTAL REGION. 341 



Kalophriinvs, Ansonia, and rscudohnfo, are peculiar: M"liile the 

 Oriental Ilcgaloj^iJ' ri/s, Ixalus, Filiaeophorus, and Ifylorann are 

 abundant and cliaracteristic. 



Fishes. — The fresli-water fislies of the oMahiy arehipehigo 

 have been so well collected and examined by the Dutch 

 naturalists, that they ofter valuable indications of zoo geo- 

 graphical affinity ; and tliey particularly well exhibit the 

 sharply defined limits of the region, a large number of Oriental 

 and even Ethiopian genera extending eastward as far as Ja\a 

 and Borneo, but very rarely indeed sending a single species 

 further east, to Celebes or the Moluccas. Thirteen families of 

 fresh-water fishes are found i)i the Indo-]Malay sulvregion. Of 

 these the Scienida? and Symbranchidii; have mostly a wid3 

 range in the tropics. Ophioceplialid;e are exclusively Oriental, 

 reaching Borneo and the Philippine islands. The Mastacem- 

 l)elida3 are also Oriental, but one species is found as far as Ceram. 

 Of the Nandidffi, 3 genera range over tlie whole region. The 

 Labyrinthici extend from Africa through the Oriental region to 

 Amboyna. The single species constituting the family Lucio- 

 cephalidae is confined to Borneo and the small islands of Biliton 

 and Banca. Of the extensive family Siluridae 17 genera are 

 Oriental and Malayan, and 11 are IMalayan exclusively; and 

 not one of these appears to pass beyond the limits of the sub- 

 region. The CyprinidfB offer an equally striking example, 23 

 genera ranging eastward to Java and Borneo and not one 

 beyond; 14 of these being exclusively Malayan. It must l)e 

 remembered that this is not from any want of knowledge of the 

 countries farther east, as extensive collections have also been 

 made in Celebes, the INIoluccas, and Timor ; so that the facts of 

 distribution of fresh-water fishes come, most unexpectedly, to 

 fortify that division of the archipelago into two primary 

 regions, which was founded on a consideration of mammalia 

 and birds only. 



Insects. — Few countries in the world can present a richer and 

 more varied series of insects than the Indo-Malay islands, and 

 we can only here notice a few of their more striking peculiarities 

 and more salient features. 



