Phthinobranchii 233 



ventral fins. Aulorhynchus, like Spinachia, has many dorsal 

 spines and an elongate snout approaching that of a trumpet- 

 fish. Aulorhynchus flavidus lives on the coast of California 

 and Aulichthys japonicus in Japan. The extinct family of Pro- 

 tosyngnathida is near Aulorhynchus, with the snout tubular, the 

 ribs free, not anchylosed as in Aulorhynchus, and with the first 

 vertebras fused, forming one large one as in Aulostomus. Proto- 

 syngnathus sumatrensis occurs in Sumatra. Protaulopsis bolcensis 

 of the Eocene of Italy has the ventral fins farther back, and is 

 probably more primitive than the sticklebacks. 



Cornet-fishes: Fistulariidae. Closely related to the stickle- 

 backs so far as structure is concerned is a family of very dif- 

 ferent habit, the cornet-fishes, or cornetas (Fistulariidce) . In 

 these fishes the body is very long and slender, like that of a 

 garfish. The snout is produced into a very long tube, which 

 bears the short jaws at the end. The teeth are very small. 

 There are no scales, but bony plates are sunk in the skin. The 

 ventrals are abdominal, each with a spine and four rays. The 

 four anterior vertebras are very much elongate. There are 

 no spines in the dorsal and the backbone extends through the 

 forked caudal, ending in a long filament. The cornet-fishes 

 are dull red or dull green in color. They reach a length of 

 two or three feet, and the four or five known species are widely 

 distributed through the warm seas, where they swim in shallow 

 water near the surface. Fistularia tabaccaria, the tobacco- 

 pipe fish, is common in the West Indies, Fistularia petimba, 

 F. serrata, and others in the Pacific. A fossil cornet-fish of very 

 small size, Fistularia longirostris , is known from the Eocene 

 of Monte Bolca, near Verona. Fistularia kcenigi is recorded 

 from the Oligocene of Glarus. 



The Trumpet-fishes: Aulostomidae. The Aulostomidcs, or trum- 

 pet-fishes are in structure entirely similar to the Fistu- 

 lariidce, but the body is band-shaped, compressed, and scaly, 

 the long snout bearing the feeble jaws at the end. There 

 are numerous dorsal spines and no filament on the tail. 

 Aulostomus chinensis (maculatus] is common in the West Indies, 

 Aulostomus valentini abounds in Polynesia and Asia, where 

 it is a food-fish of moderate importance. A species of Aulosto- 

 mus (bolcensis} is found in the Italian Eocene. Allied to it is 



