4io 
SPINY-FINNED GROUP. 
gill-like organ. Whereas some are carnivorous, others are vegetable-feeders; but 
all are capable of domestication, in which state they are subject to considerable 
variation, and several have been acclimatised in countries other than their own. 
The flesh of all of them is said to be eatable, and that of some is of excellent 
quality. On account of their brilliant coloration, and the curious habits of some 
of them, these fish have always attracted more than ordinary interest. 
The fish to which the somewhat inappropriate name of climbing- 
' perch (Anabas scandens ) has long been applied by Europeans in 
CLIMBING-PERCH ON LAND (h nat. size). 
India is the sole representative of a genus characterised by the presence of teeth 
on the palate, and the serration of the free margins of the opercular and preorbital 
bones. In form the body is compressed and oblong; the lateral line is interrupted; 
the single dorsal fin has its spinous portion much longer than the soft part; while 
in the anal fin the spines are less numerous than those on the back. The caudal 
fin is rounded, and the scales are rather large. In length the climbing-perch may 
reach at least 8| inches, and in the adult state its general colour is dark green, 
usually marked with dusky bands, which disappear soon after death. It frequents 
