Fig. 393.—Icosteus enigmaticus, × ⅓. (After Goode and Bean.)
Fam. 11. Ophiocephalidae.—Maxillary excluded from the border of the upper jaw. Head and body covered with cycloid scales. Anterior ribs sessile, the remainder inserted on the parapophyses. Pectoral fin low down; ventral fin, if present, near the pectoral, with 6 soft rays; pelvic bones connected with the clavicular symphysis by ligament. Dorsal and anal fins long, without spines. Air-bladder present, much elongate.
These Fishes are provided with an accessory superbranchial cavity, and are able to breathe atmospheric air. All are inhabitants of fresh waters and are carnivorous. Only two genera are known: Ophiocephalus, with about 25 species from Eastern Asia and 3 from Tropical Africa, and Channa, distinguished by the absence of ventral fins, with 3 species from Ceylon and China.
Fig. 394.—Distribution of the Ophiocephalidae.
Fig. 395.—Distribution of the Anabantidae.
Fam. 12. Anabantidae.—Differ from the preceding, to which they are closely related, in having part of the dorsal and anal fins and the outer ventral ray spinous, and a shorter, Perch-like body covered with ctenoid scales. The accessory superbranchial organ is still more developed, with thin bony laminae, which are more or less folded and covered with a mucous membrane. These Fishes can live a long time out of water, and the name Anabas scandens, or Climbing Perch, recalls the fact that its first observers in India ascribed to it the habit of climbing up low trees by means of the spines with which its gill-covers and ventral fins are armed. This species, which attains a length of 8 inches, is found in estuaries and fresh waters of India, Ceylon, Burma, and the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago; 3 other species occur in the Malay Archipelago, and 11 in Africa.
Sub-Order 9. Anacanthini.
Air-bladder without open duct. Parietal bones separated by the supraoccipital; prootic and exoccipital separated by the enlarged opisthotic. Pectoral arch suspended from the skull; no mesocoracoid arch. Ventral fins below or in front of the pectorals, the pelvic bones posterior to the clavicular symphysis and only loosely attached to it by ligament.