7G8 MR. C. TATE RKGAX OX ASIATIC [NoV. 9, 



expansion or process of the first epibranchial ; also tbe continu- 

 ation backwards of the abdominal cavity, supported by ribs, 

 nearly to the caudal fin, this caudal extension containing only 

 the posterior part of the air-bladder. Another feature of some 

 importance is the presence of teeth on the parasphenoid, between 

 and just in front of the upper pharyngeals; in some genera these 

 teeth form quite a well-marked patch, in others they are less 

 prominent ; in the very aberrant Luciocephalus I find only two 

 or three minute teeth on the parasphenoid. The cranium of all 

 the Labyrinthici is remarkably solid, the nasals are firmly united 

 by sutui'e to the frontals, the prfeorbitals to the pi'fefrontals, and 

 the postorbitals to the frontals and post-frontals ; the suborbital 

 ring is fixed and rigid ; the supra-branchial cavities hollow out 

 the otic region ; as a rule they are bordered above by the laminar 

 supra-temporal (pterotic) and opisthotic, and within mainly by 

 the exoccipitals, but in OpMocephalihs they reach the parietals, 

 and in Anahas the supraoccipital and post-frontals also take 

 part in roofing the suprabranchial cavities, which are only 

 separated from each other in this type by a thin median septum, 

 the cranial cavity being pushed forward. The post-tempoi'al is 

 forked, attached to the epiotic above and the opisthotic below ; 

 the ribs are inserted on strong transverse processes. 



The Ophiocephaloidei are undoubtedly the most primitive sub- 

 oi^der; in them all the fin-rays are articulated and the 6-rayed 

 pelvic fins are subabdominal in position, the pelvic bones being 

 remote from the cleithra. The suprabranchial organ is not 

 labyrinthic and the long simple air-bladder extends back for the 

 whole length of the anal fin, the basalia of the latter being 

 attached not to haemal spines, but to the distal ends of the ribs. 



In the Anaba,ntoidei the pelvic fins are composed of a spine 

 and five or fewer soft rays or may be reduced to a single fila- 

 mentous ray, and the pelvic bones are attached to the ligament 

 which connects the cleithra above their symphysis, either loosely 

 or more or less firmly. The suprabranchial lamina is often 

 branched and convoluted and the air-bladder is divided poste- 

 riorly by the hfemal spines which support the basalia of the anal 

 fin. 



The Ophiocephaloidei probably originated from fishes very 

 similar to the Cyprinodontidee, which like them are soft-rayed 

 fishes with 6-rayed pelvic fins and with a scaly head, and which 

 resemble them in the structure of the mouth and in many details 

 of the cranium, vertebral column, and pectoral arch. 



I follow Bleeker and Giinther in recognizing two families of 

 the Anabantoidei, viz. Anabantidse, with the mouth moderately 

 protractile and the gill-openings restricted by the broad union of 

 the scaly gill-membranes, and Luciocephalidse, with the mouth 

 very protractile and the gill-openings wide, the naked gill- 

 membranes not being united. 



The Labyrinthici inhabit the Ethiopian and Oriental Regions, 

 but two species, Anahas scandens and Ophiocephalv^ striaUis, cross 



