Berycoidei 



251 



rayed fishes of the tropics, of whatever family, this number is 

 retained. 



In every case spines are present in the dorsal fin, and in 

 certain cases the development of the spinous dorsal surpasses 

 that of the most extreme perch-like forms. In geological 

 times the Berycoids preceded all other perch-like fishes. They 

 are probably ancestral to all the latter. All the recent species, 

 in spite of high specialization, retain' some archaic characters. 



The Alfonsinos: Berycidae. The typical family, Berycidce, is 

 composed of fishes of rather deep water, bright scarlet or 

 black in color, with the body short and compressed, the scales 

 varying in the different genera. The single dorsal fin has a 

 few spines in front, and there are no barbels. The suborbi- 

 tals are not greatly developed. 



The species of Beryx, called in Spanish Alfonsino, Beryx 

 elegans and Beryx decadactylus, are widely distributed at mod- 



FIG. 199. Beryx splendens Lowe. Gulf Stream. 



erate depths, the same species being recorded from Portugal, 

 Madeira, Cuba, the Gulf Stream, and Japan. The colors are 

 very handsome, being scarlet with streaks of white or golden. 

 These fishes reach the length of a foot or more and are valued 

 as food where sufficiently common. 



Numerous species of Beryx and closely allied genera are 

 found in all rocks since Cretaceous times; Beryx dalmaticus, 

 from the Cretaceous of Dalmatia, is perhaps the earliest. Beryx 

 insculptus is found in New Jersey, but no other Berycoids 



