Preface. 



Literature deftHng with our locaJ Fish and Fislieries is wanting^ 



The meailjere of tlie Profiteering Commtssioji (1920) who were 

 " impresaed nnd mxith liandiea[iped by the aliseiice of any recorded 

 infonaatioB relating bo fisrli arul fiaheries»'' made t^t^rtam recom- 

 mendations for tlie future control and ortranisation of tlie fifiliing 

 induetrj'' and tho^e rec^ramendfttionfi have recudvetl the approval of 

 the Government. 



With the Iwrit will in the world, the ttmk of Le#?ii4lator^ md 

 Fishery OfTicers wlio have no data or records to guide tliem, and 

 aj*e therefore unahle to distaisa our local fish and fisheries except 

 in vague terms, would be ah fruitless in the future as it has been 

 in the pfliit. 



AHowinifj tlierefore, that recorded information in the form of 

 a hand-ljook on Ma lay an Pjethca is wautciil and wanted at once, the 

 difiiculty ariat's tliat tliere k no one qualilied or likely to he qualified 

 for some years to write such a hook. 



The iehthydogii^iLs itre not lisguists and the linguists are not 

 ichtbyologiste. 



Tliisi bein^r tiie portion, tlie vrriter has tlie temerity to offer 

 tliis t?inali work J which he hopes will he of some temporary service 

 until, in due t?our.se, tlie important of the Malayan Fisheriea ha^ 

 been establis^i^id and Ilshery bulletin* written by specialists are 

 produced. 



I'he iueluflion in tlnis volume of several hundred Malay names 

 of fishes, many published for the fir^it time, should lighten the 

 labours of scientists and help the Fishery Officers, 



Xo fishes have lK?ei] included wliieh have not been definitely 

 reeortled as inlmhiting the seas, estuaries and fresh wntar ot the 

 Malay Peninsula, 



Tlie eisse of the work wouUI have hoim troblcd if fishes 

 Borneo, Java, Sunmti'a and the Malay Arehipelago generally, to- 

 gether with Siam and Burma, had been admittetl. ft is .safe to 

 prophesy that most of the Wishes of those eountriv.-? inhabit our 

 waters and will be recorded later on, 



Tliis work may Ije taken, therefore, a? dealing* very inadequate- 

 Jy, with one-fourth of our Mies only and prohttbly not one-half 

 of the local Malay names hav« been mentioned. Tlte writer knows 

 very little aJ:out fre^^h water fishes. 



