12 FISHERIES OF THE ORIENTAL REGION, 



Another peculiarity in the appearance of these fishes, is that 

 they have a long, fleshy, pointed snout. On the structure of this 

 snout depends the classification. It may be said to terminate in a 

 pointed movable appendage, which is concave and transversely 

 striated below in Rhynchobdella y and without the transverse striae 

 in Mastacembelus. There are only two genera in the family ; in 

 all 13 species. In the Peiak river I have caught specimens of 

 Rhynchobdella aculeata about 18 inches long. They are esteemed 

 as the best of the eel-kind amongst fishes. Mr. Day says it is 

 found in brackish waters within tidal influence, and throughout 

 the deltas of large rivers, extending to Borneo and the Moluccas. 

 It conceals itself in the mud, but dies if it cannot breathe air. In 

 the Thaiping Museum, Perak, there is a kindred species which 

 was found in the stomach of a snake very little bigger than itself. 



Another characteristic of the Indian region is the number of 

 Cobitidse or Loaches, represented in such genera as Lepidoce- 

 phalichthys, with eight or more barbels, a short dorsal fin and 

 scales on the head ; Acanthopsis, Acanthophthahnus, Apua, &c. 

 All the species are edible, and I think are called " Balut " by the 

 Malays, though probably the same name is applied by some to the 

 Mastacembelus just described. I need hardly go more into detail 

 to describe the Loaches, which are well-known from their peculiar 

 bearded mouths, with scales minute or absent, and dull colours, 

 with blotches and stains sometimes irregular and sometimes in 

 fanciful patterns. 



The Indian fresh-water fish region, according to Giinther, 

 comprises the whole continent of Asia south of the Himalayas 

 and the Yang-tse-kiang. It includes Sumatra, Java, Borneo 

 and Bali, with adjacent small islands. Borneo has a good many 

 Cyprinoids, and, as far as my investigations go, they are more 

 numerous in the Philippine Islands than Giinther seems to think. 

 According to the same authority, the region has received very 

 little from outside its own limits. Formosa, though off the south 

 coast of Asia and partly within the tropics, has a mixed fish 

 fauna, as far as it is known, whichis imperfectly. It includes a 



