36 



MALAYAN FISHES. 



the little fish woiiltl be hauled in tintil the InMita were deep in the 

 water and the l?o>"«l Indies exhau«t^tl. At tha n^ht mmon, thcrf 

 are few more dtlif^nte iiavoured fish than the Kerisi and tht-v re- 

 mind one of really good Whiting, 



Rut they must ^>p aibsohitely fresh and caught oji the right 

 grouinl ; if out of s^eiison nr stale, Kerisi have an miplpaHaiit 

 tang nbunt them. 



The Delah {VfieHh are ijnjall but ;;:ood eatin*j, the be«t 



being. perhfipSj V. pinjah which is also known m ikan merah 

 china aud is in no way inferior to the Ikati merah as a table 



delicacy. 



Of the genus Spnrm. thrive f5peci<*!> are mentioned in this book, 

 one of "wliioh* tliu Beras-beras [S, SQrba)^ is the Tarvrhiiie of 

 Qumnsland and New Sonth Wale^?, wliere it is ffOMidered a ^Qod 

 edible jii^h. 



It is not to he compared however, either from a sporting or 

 an edible point of view, with its t^ongenur the Bhick Bream {S, 

 atiJstmlis)^ wliit'h has not been risK^orded m inhabitinfiT Malayan 

 waters. 



The Asoh-asoh iLethrinm tiehttlot^its} h another useful fish 

 in this family. The inside of It^ niontli is ortinge coloured m is 

 tJiat of its relative the Yellow-mouthed ^Snapper {L. cfirtfmstomtts) 

 of Australia. 



RED MULLETS, 



{MULLWA!':.) 



Memberti of this faniily are known as Red Mullets in Great 

 Britain luid « 4 " Gont-lishes " or Surmullets in Ahierku. 



The British speties are MuUm hfirbatm anil .If, surmiiletus, 

 rcnmrkable for their beautiful pink or red colour, and much valued 

 oij the market, although no lont;er held in the liii^li estimation for 

 which they were noterl by tlu' Horn ana, 



Biji nangka or Lebai are the Mahiyau ijeneric iiameii of our 

 local Tn(3nrb(.M\f of ihh family mid are descriptive- Tlie BijI 

 nangka ( JHck-fniit !*mt) is* ydliAc mul Im^ a libimentous proeeaa 

 -■limilnr to the hHrbel of tlu- Hed Mullet: a Lebai is n Maky of 

 excqjtional piou.s liabit, and it will lie notieed that he ahuost in- 

 variably sfjortj: a beard eonsiatiiig, &^ a ride, tjf about two or three 

 ]ung hairis, and bis fellow country men have bit off the resembbmce 

 to the li.h, whicfi has two lonf^ bari>els defjendejit from the lower 

 Jaw, 



The Ikan lebai are remarkably beautiful fiijhes and their 

 brilliant i-^dourin^f contrasts somewbat with tlie i^olenin aspect of 

 the head, which ik, perhap.-?. an .additional reft.son for the Malay 

 nickname. 



One of pur local species {Cpe}ieuii traguJa) is known in Aub- 

 tralia lis the Bar-tailed Goat-fish. 



