132 
THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 
Fam. LABYRINTHICI, Cuvier. 
Labyrinthibranchii, pt., Owen. 
Osphromenoidei, Bleeker. 
Genus ANABAS, Cuvier. 
Branchiostegals, six; pseudobranehise none. Body oblong, compressed: opercles and preorbital 
serrated. A superbranchial organ, composed of tbin laminae, situated in a cavity above the gills, and rest¬ 
ing upon the upper part of the third branchial arch. Eyes lateral. Mouth moderately cleft. Branchial 
arches with toothed tubercles. Gill openings narrow, membranes join below isthmus. One dorsal fin, 
the spinous portion more developed than the soft. Anal spines many, but less than those of the dorsal 
fin, the soft rays nearly equal in extent. Yentrals thoracic. Teeth villiform in jaws, on the anterior 
and posterior extremity of the vomer ; none on the palatine bones. Scales ctenoid, of moderate size. 
Lateral line interrupted. Air bladder bifid, and produced posteriorly. Pyloric appendages few. 
Anabas SCANDENS. 
Peeca scandens, Daldorf Trans. Linn. Soc. iii. p. 62. 
Cojus cobojius, Ham. Buck. pp. 98, 370, pi. 13, f. 33. 
Anabas scandens, Cuv. & Val. vii. p. 333, pi. 193 & 205 ; Cantor , Catal. p. 82 ; 
Jerclon , Madras Journ. xv. p. 144 ; Gunther , Catal. iii. p. 375. 
Anabas spinosus, Gray , 111. 1. Z. ii. p. 189, f. 1. 
Undee collee, Mai. 
B. vi. D. yjj P. 15 . V. 1. A. f:L& C. 16 . L. I. 27 - 32 . L. tr. §. Vert. 10- Csec. py. 3 . 
Length of head of pectoral of caudal 1, of base of hard dorsal | , of base of anal of total 
length. Height of head 4, of body above y, of hard dorsal dn of soft dorsal j, of hard anal py, of 
soft anal |, of ventral y of total length. 
Eyes—Diameter 4 length of head, nearly ^ a diameter from end of snout, 1 f to 2 diameters 
apart. 
Body oblong, and slightly compressed in its posterior third, but elevated opposite the dorsal. 
Head rounded, cheeks and gullet inflated, whilst the head is wider than the body. 
Lower jaw rather the longest. Upper jaw extending backwards to beneath the middle of the 
orbit. Preorbital strong*, and denticulated. Preopercle, with the posterior margin nearly straight, 
and about twice as long as the inferior : angle with some strong teething. Opercle strongly 
spined on its posterior margin, also on the angle of the sub-opercle, which is very moveable, and 
hides the branchiostegal rays. The spines may be said to exist in three distinct patches on the 
vertical limb of the opercle, and on the subopercle : the superior consists of four or five, with some 
smaller ones which are above the centre of the opercle : the middle is a little beneath the centre 
of the opercle, and has a large one above and some smaller ones below; whilst the inferior 
patch is placed entirely on the subopercle, and has the greatest number of spines and rather the 
longest, which are continued, but less strongly, along the lower margin of the subopercle. Nostrils 
at anterior superior angle of the orbit, the anterior is slightly tubular. Suprascapular serrated. 
Teeth—Villiform in jaws, with an external rather conical row. Also villiform on the front of 
vomer, and on its posterior part. None on palate. 
Fins—The dorsal commences over the posterior margin of the opercle, its spinous portion 
