584 Labyrinthici and Holconoti 
especially of the ventrals, which has obtained for it the generic 
name Macropodus. To some extent this species has also been 
made the subject of fish-culture, but with reference to its beauty 
and exhibition in aquaria and ponds, like the goldfish, rather 
than for its food qualities. 
“The only other fish of the family that needs mention is the 
fighting-fish (Betta pugnax). It is cultivated by the natives of 
Siam, and a special race seems to have been the result of such 
cultivation. The fishes are kept in glasses of water and fed, 
among other things, with the larva of mosquitoes or other 
aquatic insects. ‘The Siamese are as infatuated with the com- 
bats of these fishes as the Malays are with their cock-fights, and 
stake on the issue considerable sums, and sometimes their own 
persons and families. The license to exhibit fish-fights is farmed, 
and brings a considerable annual revenue to the king of Siam. 
The species abounds in the rivulets at the foot of the hills of 
Penang. The inhabitants name it ‘pla-kat,’ or the ‘fighting- 
fish.’ 
The Helostomide are herbivorous, with movable teeth on the 
lips and with long intestines. Helostoma temminckt lives in 
the rivers of Java, Borneo, and Sumatra. 
The Luciocephalide of East Indian rivers have the supra- 
branchial organ small, formed of two gill-arches dilated by a 
membrane. In these species there are no spines in the dorsal 
and anal, while in the Anabantide and Osphromenide numerous 
spines are developed both in the dorsal and anal. Luctocephalus 
pulcher indicates a transition toward the Ophicephalide. 
The Snake-head Mullets: Ophicephalide.—The family of Opht- 
cephalide, snake-head mullets, or China-fishes, placed among 
the Percesoces by Cope and Boulenger, seems to us nearer 
the Labyrinthine fishes, of which it is perhaps a degenerate 
descendant. The body is long, cylindrical, covered with firm 
scales which on the head are often larger and shield-like. The 
mouth is large, the head pike-like, and the habit carnivorous and 
voracious. There are no spines in any of the fins, but the tho- 
racic position of the ventrals indicates affinity with perch-like 
forms and the absence of ventral spines seems rather a feature of 
degradation, the more so as in one genus (Channa) the ventrals 
are wanting altogether. The numerous species are found in 
