34 



MALAYAN FISHEB. 



JEW FISHBS. 



(SCrAmiDAE,) 



About 150 .^pi'cies of tins farailv art; found iji VflHous parts 

 of thf woritL Neark all are of economic value, some being liiglily 

 &o, anil mmy of them reach a very large J-i^e. 



The Tembereh (Sciacria dm^avflim] is one of the commonest 

 eoajit and estuary fislies and perha|ii4 tlie lar^jtvt member of t}u& 

 family in otir watt^ns. It attains a kiigth of at Ic^j^t 5 feet. 



TJit' Gelama [OlolUhtis sj>p.) are amoa;j: our eomnioneat 

 fishe!-;. Tljyy travel in Am^h ntiintuirin^'^ many thoiisaiuls and are 

 taken in deep water hanlin;? net^; (Pukaf pHa^ram ) hy Trenggajm 

 and Kehuitaii Jbliennwi. These fish are drml md salted on tlie 

 East coast iwH thousands of pikuls are expoFtod annnaJh'. 



T\iv Qelama will take a halt hut are hardly worth fishinty for 

 as they give no sport and are uisipid table fish even when quite 

 fresh. As " ikan kering " with curry they art- i,|tiite ^ood, 



"SILVER-BREAM*" 



{GERRIDAE.) 



These are small fish inliAbiting nil tropi<^al Peas and eptering' 

 estuaries, 



Act'ordiiig to Day these fishes are eateu by the indigent classes 

 m India hein^ little eflteemerl when fresh, but a5 they &alt and dry 

 well lartfe numbers are prepared in this manner for use. 



Tile family eontains about siAty »pQeim of whieh only .six are 

 mentioned in this work, Some 15 s^pecies are found in Austnilia 

 and 23 in Indian waters. They rarely exceed a length of ten 

 indiejsr nearly all have a plain silvery coloration. 



Ill America, the il^hes of this family are known as " Mojarras/' 



Tlie Kapas-kapas (6V*rm sp.) will take n bait, prefembly 

 prawns or Ijeiieii worms, and may he canght in the vacinity of Bsh- 

 in{? stakes {KeJanri) as in and nlm near reef<^. When freshly 

 caught it will he f^uoid quite a pleasant table Mi with com pa 

 tiveh' few hones. 



SELEMAH- 



(LACTARIWAE.) 



Tlie Selemah is the sole member of tliis family and is not a: 

 fish of nnich economic importance. It <!:row.^ to a leufcth of ahont 

 10 ini'hes, and is ea'ten hy tlie native^* either fre>h or malted but is 

 sftid to lie insipid. 



It apijears in Malajhfir in shoals during the mnm]!.-: of F^ruary 

 and Mareh. 



Tlu'V enter llie Straits diirinir the N. K. niunjiotm hnt not in 

 bir^e nnmhers iind I am informed hy Malay IWliernien that they 

 rarely tiike more than half a dozen on any one day. 



They dn nut tnke a bait but a few find their wav into net? mid 

 traps. 



