MALAYAN FISHES, 



31 



During the breeding season, the males of many species assiune 

 H more briUiant liverj. or develop excrescences and taberclee on 

 vnriouH parts of tlie head, especially on the snout, or also on the 

 body and fins. 



The common Carp of E^uope is said to have been intrmluced 

 4toni {^hina early in the seventeenth nentiiry. The Oliinese con- 

 trane to imjjort Tarp into Malaya ajul to ^trnw tliem in stoek*ponds. 

 The im]K>rtefl Carp are tlie Tiam (ChiTip^ie) {Lah^o moli- 

 lorella}f Uic Ling (Ohine.se) (Ci/fmnm mrffio), and the Hwan 

 ( Cli iuese ) {Cien oph an/nffodo n idell us ) . 



The ova are shipped from China in lart(e jars fail of fresh 

 and the contents of the 'jars iire regularly and vi^orouBly 

 stirrod wiLli a at'wk or paddle daring the voyage, to oxygenize tlie 

 eggi?. and by the time iie jai^ arrive in this eonntry they contain 

 thousands of fry. 



These fish are very popular amon^ the Chiiiesie and fetch higli 

 prices in the markets. They attain a length of three feet or more 

 and a weight of perhups 20 to 2o pounds. The utilitarian ofl'uer.^ 

 feed them on f(K>d of f^ut-h a disgugtin^ nature, pi"i^^<;ipfllly excreta, 

 that I can ^ny nothing as to their edible quaJities. as 1 have nevet 

 felt any wiidi to taijte tliem. 



I imported some many year^ ago and intemh-d to stock a pond 

 in Kuala Filah but unfortunately the ship wm placed in quarantine 

 and m tJieir period of confinement in jars limited, ail the fry 

 perished. Tliese im]K)rted Carp have not, st* far a^i I know, been 

 bred in this country and it is more than likely that they retjuire 

 fresh ruiniiing streams for the natural develojjment of their ova. 



The question of stocking some of our streams may wortJi 

 consiideration. hut I doubt it, as we have go many indlj^enous Carp, 

 In this coniieetion it la well to remeTuhCT that these Carp which 

 have been artificially bred for eenturic.^. have yielded numerous 

 flxamplos of hybridism. 1 have read in an American magazine of 

 a sporL^man \v'ho for lack of other bait nsctl aquarium gohj fish 

 (Carji) very sneeess fully as live bait. He kept a stock of them in 

 -a fountain where they interbred with small species of American 

 C:irp with the raost extraordinary rcaidts. 



Profesjorti Max Weber and de Beaufort write of the Cijprmm, 

 Distribution ; Fresh water of temperate parts of Asia and 

 Europe, from where introduced in many part?: of the world and 

 **hauged into many varieties," 



We have many species 'of Barhm int'lucling rlie famous sport* 

 ing fish the MaJiseer of ludia, our Temoleh (Jiarbm moml)^ The 

 Kerai (Barbm neilU) is said by Day to attain a weight of 50 or 60 

 pounds. 



