Page:Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. (IA mobot31753002848262).pdf/35

 Roughley writes, "The most prolific grounds are found to be between 50 and 60 fathoms in depth," and again, "Many species, which before the advent of trawling were very rarely seen in the markets and which were in fact considered by many to occur only in small numbers on our coast, could now be counted in thousands."

KNIGHT-FISHES.

(MONOCENTRIDAE.)

The Sětonggang (Monocentris japonicus) is a curious little fish with enormous bony scales and two long ventral spines. It has no edible value.

"BULL'S-EYES."

(PEMPHERIDAE.)

I have no personal knowledge of these fishes and, as they are never captured in numbers, they are unimportant from an economic standpoint.

"DRUMMERS."

(KYPHOSIDAE.)

The Tělan rumput (Kyphosus cinerascens) as its name explains is a herbivorous fish, subsisting chiefly on "sea-grass" and "sea-moss." It is a congener of the Drummer of New South Wales (Kyphosus sydneyanus) and belongs to the same family as that excellent food and sporting fish known in New South Wales as the Blackfish.

DUSKY-PERCH.

(LOBOTIDAE.)

The Pěchah pěriok (Lobotes surinamensis) is a large perch-like estuary fish which reaches a length of 3 or 4 feet and a weight of 25 to 30 pounds. It is known in Australia as the Dusky Perch.

According to Boulenger's classification, the family contains two genera, Lobotes and Datnioides, each with two species, and though the two species of Datnioides are known to occur in the estuaries and rivers of the Malay Peninsula, they have not yet, as far as I am aware, been identified under a Malay name.

The Pěchah pěriok is an excellent food fish and it readily takes a fish bait.

It has a very wide range, being found in Queensland, the West Indie, on the east coast of the United States of America, as far North as Cape Cod, in the Mediterranean Sea, India and China.