48 



MALAYAN FISHES. 



SUCKING RSHES. 



{EcmNEiDimiLj 



Tlicsi? Mios, (feiiuTallv known aii Up mora, nttAch thcm&elyeff 

 by mean ft of a reiuarkablc iidhesivo dirfC on the upper surface of the 

 lieiid boats ami or to whiiks, slmrks liiid turtles and in 



tliis war manage to do n good deal of travelling with tlie miuimnm 

 ftniount of effort. As they arc jiot strong swimmers they obtain a 

 m\u'h JargiT ^rt]yp]y o[ food by riding about in this way than other- 

 Mi woi\]d be possible. 



Tlie mdiveis of Cuba, ZfltisinMr and the Torres Straits use ihes*.- 

 fish for catching turtles; the fish beiDg hekl by a niotiil ring round 

 the Ija:*? of the tail tu whidi a line is attafhtHL When one of 

 thego feh, a foot in length, ]im its wet smoker aj>plied to a taJde, 

 and is allowed time to lay hold, It adheres : o tightly that it iis im- 

 ptKsiye to |>ull it off by a fair vertical strain (Lydekker)', 



The Qemi {Erhitni^ nuturaie^) is very common in these seas. 

 Tt takes & bait readily, is edibk*, md may, otcosionally, be seen in 

 the markets. 



QOBLIN-FISHES. 



(SCORPAEXIDAE.) 



Sonie^ members of tJiis family are Perdi-fi^hfiped and edible^ 

 growing to a large siise {SehmkSf Scorpaen^^, etc.). 



Xearly all are distinguished by a iiowerful armature, either of 

 the hpttd, or fin ^junes, or both, and in siome the spines are provided 

 with poison ^luncb {Scorpaem, Pteroh, Pehr and Spianda) and 

 n ^ting from these jupint'S is extremely ]>ainfuL 



Lepu is the Mftlay synonym for all jji^inbei^ of this iamily. 



FLAT-HEADS. 



{PLATYCEFMALWAE. ) 

 This fflJiiily with a single genns, Phtijceplialm^ and aome 40* 

 specie^, inhu-bits the coasts of the Inilian Oeean and tlie Western 

 Paoific. 



The Malay genede term is* BajUbajtf ?,o called from the wedge 

 shaped Jiead, and bo far some four species have been identified in 

 Malayan seas. 



They live on the bottom, hidden in the sand «s a rub, and as- 

 they depeml on their protective colouring and spines to jsave them 

 from possible eno-mies, they do not swim to distance when dis- 

 turbed but dart a^"ay for an instiint and then Ue motionless half 

 buried in the sand, 



Tliis 7>ecnliarity renders them parfekukrly liable to be taken by 

 trawls and a larire proportion of the catches made by tlie ^Tew 

 Kouth Wale.^ trawlers is eomijosed of these fish. 



They are good edible fish and common in the markets. 



i Eoyal Nat. Hiatoiy. 



