Ctenoid Acanthopteres. FISHES. Labyrinthibranohs. 
129 
the pectorals, and the dorsal is clothed with very fine 
scales, dift'ering in size and appearance from those of 
the body. The stomach is of moderate size, and the 
pancreatic caeca vary in number from four to seven. 
The swim-bladder is large, rounded anteriorly, and 
divided very generally into two posterior pointed 
lobes. 
The genera are — M(ena; Smarts; Casio; Gerres; Datnioides 
(Bleeker) ; Emmelichthys (Richardson) ; Ditrema (Schlegel) ; 
Diplerygonotus (Bleeker); Apogenoid.es (id.); Mendosoma 
(Guichenot); Pentaprion (Bleeker); Velifer (Schlegel); 
Achames (Miiller and Troschel); Aphareus; Chcetopterus 
(Schlegel); and Eucinostomus (Baird and Girard). 
None of these are British, and they are of compara- 
tively little importance in human economy. The 
Mediterranean species are alluded to by Aristotle and 
his Roman copyists under the names of Mainis and 
Smaris. Martial speaks of them with contempt, as 
being unsavoury and of bad odour. In the Dutch 
eastern settlements some of the family pass by the 
name of Wakkura, meaning probably, wide-awake or 
vigilant. 
Fajiily XIV.— labyrinthibranohs {Laby- 
rinthibranchii). — Plate 9, figs. 46, 47. 
The structure of the upper pharyngeals is the spe- 
ciality of this family, whose members in external form 
of body resemble in one direction the Sparoids, and in 
the other the Mullets. By the expansion of the upper 
pharyngeals into numerous, undulating, leaf-like folds, 
many winding passages and recesses are formed, in 
which water may be retained for moistening the gills 
in times of drought. To make room for this appa- 
ratus the gill-covers are more than usually convex, 
and they fit tightly to the shoulder, so as to prevent 
the water from escaping. If the gills are kept moist 
and their processes well separated, they can hi several 
fi.shes, perhaps in many, extract oxygen from atmos- 
pheric air. In the Labyrinthibranchs the scales are 
generally large, and those covering the head are little 
inferior in size to those on the body. The mouth is 
cleft past the orbits in one genus only ; in most the 
gape reaches only half-way to the eye, and in all it is 
terminal. The dorsal is single, and the ventrals, 
which are composed of five or six soft rays, with or 
without the addition of a spine, are situated under the 
pectorals, or in some cases a little farther forwards. 
The lateral line varies, being straight, deflexed, or 
arched, and either interrupted or continuous accord- 
ing to the genus. The branchiostegous membrane 
most frequently shuts up under the scales of the throat 
and mandible, so as to be concealed when the mouth 
is closed. 
The genera are — Anahas; Helostoma; Poiyacantlms ; Cteno- 
poma (Peter); Bella (Bleeker); Colisa; Macropodus ; Os- 
phronemus ; Trichopus ; Spirobranchus ; and Ophicephalus ; 
which last is named from the resemblance of its flat scaly 
head to that of a serpent, an aspect more or less characteristic 
of most of the other genera. 
The author of a work on “ Fishes that live in dry 
Von. II. 73 
places,” supposed to be Theophrastus, who flourished 
in the fourth century before our era, says that in India 
certain little fishes resembling the Mullets leave the 
rivers for a time and return to them again. Although 
a commentary on this treatise was published in 1665 
at Naples by Severinus, it was not properly understood 
until 1797, when M. Daldorf communicated to the 
Linnsean Society his observations on the Tree-climber 
{Anabas scandens), one of which he had himself cap- 
tured as it was in the act of ascending the palm called 
Borassus flabellifwmis, which grew near a pond. The 
object of the fish in making this ascent is said to have 
been to reach a small reservoir of rain-water collected 
in the axils of the leaves, and full of insects. This 
faculty of climbing has been vouched for by some 
other observers, and denied by several. Dr. Cantor 
says that in the Malay countries the Anabas is eaten 
by the poorer classes, who do not attribute to it either 
the medicinal qualities or the climbing propensities for 
which it is celebrated in Bengal. It can live long, 
however, out of water, and is frequently sent in a dry 
vessel, from the marshes of Yazor to Calcutta, a jour- 
ney of several days, which it survives. 
The Plalcat of Siam {Macropodus pugnax) is 
domesticated by the Siamese, with whom it is a great 
favourite, being kept in jars of water and fed with the 
larvae of mosquitoes. A variety reared by artificial 
means and trained to fight is mentioned by Dr. Cantor, 
who says — “ When the fish is in a state of quiet, with 
the fins at rest, the dull colours present nothing 
remarkable. But if two are brought within sight of 
each other, or if one sees its own image in a looking- 
glass, the little creature becomes suddenlj'’ excited, the 
raised fins and the whole body shine with metallic 
colours of dazzling beauty, while the projected gill- 
membrane, waving like a black frill round the throat, 
adds something grotesque to the general appearance. 
In this state of irritation it makes repeated darts at 
its real or reflected antagonist. But the fish, when 
out of each other’s sight, instantly become quiet. 
This description of their actions was drawn up in 
1840, at Singapore, by a gentleman who had received 
a present of several from the king of Siam. They 
were kept singly in glasses of water, fed with the 
larvBB of mosquitoes, and had thus lived many months. 
The Siamese are as infatuated with combats of these 
fishes as the Malays are with their cock-fights, and 
stake considerable sums, and sometimes their liberty 
and that of their families, on the issue. The licence 
to exhibit fish-fights is farmed, and yields a consider- 
able revenue to the crown.” The Osphronemus olfax 
has been naturalized at Penang and Malacca, having 
been originally brought from China. It becomes so 
tame as to approach the hand of the feeder, and will 
rise to flies, beetles, and certain flowers, especially a 
large Hibiscus. This species, named the Gourami 
b)”^ Commerson, has been transplanted also to the Isle 
of France and to French Cayenne, in both of which 
localities it now thrives. Very recently it has been 
introduced into Australia. The Ophicephali are named 
Langya, or “ living fish,” by the Chinese, because they 
are carried about in tubs and sold in pieces cut from 
the fish when alive. 
