SUNIER: Marine fish-ponds of Batavia. 199 
The species Chanos lubina C. V. still mentioned in BLEEKER (*) and 
GÜNTHER (5) being no longer recognized (cf. WEBER and DE BEAUFORT (°°)), 
the bandeng is now the only extant living representative known to us of 
the family of the Chanidae, belonging to the Clupeiformes. The bandeng 
is however sometimes classed among the family of the Clupeidae, to which 
is then added the subfamily of the Chaninae (cf. GOODRICH (*)). 
Extinct relatives of the bandeng are known to us from the Cretaceous 
period and that already from the Neocomian epoch, and from the Tertiary 
period of Europe. 
The normal appearance of a bandeng from the Batavia empangs is 
represented in photo 10 (Plate XVI). Beside this, photo 11 (Plate XVII) 
pictures a specimen of a markedly deviating shape, which { found on 
October 17th, 1919 among about 150 fish drawn from the same empang 
near Kampong Fluit, all the others being normally shaped bandeng. In 
the subjoined list are collected for comparison some dimensions of: a. the 
biggest specimen of the 150 fish referred to; 6. the abnormal individual and 
c. the smallest specimen of the whole batch. 
Biggest Abnormal | Smallest 
specimen | individual | specimen 
length including caudal fin: 59.5 > 825 < 43 \ 
maximum height: 13 DSO 0 | centi- 
diameter of the eye: Den EN EEZ | metres 
length of the dorsal lobe of the caudal fin: 16.5 a De lS 
weight: 1820 > 550 < 700 grammes 
From these figures it appears that the shape of the body of the abnor- 
mal specimen is the result of the growth in the direction of the longitudinal 
axis of the animal having been far less than normal in proportion to the 
growth in other directions. One might surmise that this relative shortening 
of the animal could be wholly or partly explained by the absence of a 
number of metameres. That this is not the case was clear to me on counting 
the number of pierced scales constituting the lateral line, respectively the 
number of transverse rows of scales and the number of vertebrae. 
GUNTHER (°) states 45 as the number of vertebrae of the bandeng. In a 
normally shaped bandeng from the empangs | counted 44 vertebrae. Of the ab- 
normally shaped individual I could not make out the exact number of vertebrae 
with certainty, but I could convince myself that it certainly did not deviate 
much from 44 or 45. The vertebrae, like the animal itself are obviously 
shortened in the direction of the longitudinal axis. This shortening grows 
more marked as one approaches the cranial end of the vertebral column, and 
becomes less pronounced towards the caudal extremity. Moreover the vertebrae 
are not quite normally shaped and the cranial end of the vertebral column 
before the attachment to the basioccipital curves slightly dorsad. Further the 
