MALAYAN FISHES. 45 



HAIRTAILS. 



(TRICHIURIDAE.) 



The Timah-timah (Trichiuriis spp.) are some of our com- 

 monest fishes and are general!}' on sale in the markets. 



I have never eaten them but the Chinese and Indians purchase 

 them readil}-. 



These fish have no caudal fin, the bod)' being ribbon like and 

 tapering to a fine point. 



Miniature specimens an inch or two in length form a con- 

 siderable proportion of the catches of illegal purse nets. The or- 

 dinary size of marketable specimens is about three to four feet. 



Day quotes Eussell as observing that in his time thej' were 

 esteemed by the European soldiers in India, and Jerdon states that 

 they afFord very delicate eating. 



SAIL-FISHES. 



(HISTIOPHORIDAE.) 



A familj' of large oceanic fishes, occurring in tropical or sub- 

 tropical seas. On account of their formidable sword, large speci- 

 mens are held in dread by fishermen and are rarely taken and still 

 more rarely preserved. 



The Japanese in Hawaii have a regular fishery for Sail-Fish 

 and Tuna. The Japanese fishermen in Singapore, who are the 

 only deep water fishermen in our waters and whose methods are 

 riiuch more enterprising and thorough than those of the Malays and 

 Chinese, are taking these fish oocasionally. 



I am informed that a Sail-Fish, three fathoms long was sold in 

 the Clyde Terrace market within the past two weeks, but the in- 

 formation arrived too late to enable me to get a photograph. 



This fish is known to Malays as Selayer or Layeran {Layer, 

 a sail), and is by no means rare. 



FLAT-FISHES. 



(PLEURONECTIDAE.) 



Flat fishes are a large group of some 500 species, mostly 

 marine. 



The very young are transparent and symmetrical with an eye 

 on each side, and s-wim in a vertical position like other fishes. 



As they grow, the eye of one side moves by degrees to the other 

 side, where it becomes the upper eye. 



If, at that age, the dorsal fin does not extend to the frontal 

 region, the migrating eye simply moves over tlie line of the profile ; 

 in other o-enera, the dorsal fin has already extended to the snout 

 before the migration takes place, and the eye, passing between the 



