The material in this book has been put together hastily during a period of five months in the intervals of considerable pressure of other work.
The plates have been beautifully prepared by Mr. Black of the Survey Department, Kuala Lumpur, but it is to be regretted that many of the fishes have been badly displayed and badly photographed.
The writer was unable to find time to be present at the Clyde Terrace Market, Singapore, where most of the photographs were taken, the fish being borrowed for a minute or two from the stall-holders, and in consequence, the specific identification of every fish from a poor photograph has been impossible, though the writer feels confident that the families and genera have been correctly given.
The writer's thanks are due to Messrs. Stead and Roughley. But for their works on Australian Fishes, from which quotations have been freely made, this work could not have been written.
To the Directors and Staff of the F. M. S. Museums and the Raffles Museum, Singapore, who have granted me facilities for consulting the reference libraries and permission to examine and photograph specimens in the Museum collections, I desire to express my indebtedness.
Singapore, 16th June, 1921.
