Berycoidei 



2 53 



and Plectromus. In Caulolepis the jaws are armed with very 

 strong canines. 



Allied to the Trachichthyida are also the fossil genera Hop- 

 lopteryx and Homonotus. Hoplopteryx lewesiensis, from the 

 English chalk, is one of the earliest of the spiny-rayed fishes. 



The Soldier-fishes: Holocentridae. The soldier-fishes (Holo- 

 centrida}, also known as squirrel-fishes, Welshmen, soldados, 

 matajuelos, malau, alehi, etc., are shore fishes very characteristic 



FIG. 201. Paratrachichthys prosthemius Jordan & Fowler, Misaki, Japan. Family 



Trachuhthyidce. 



of rocky banks in the tropical seas. In this family the flesh 

 is firm and the large scales very hard and with very rough 

 edges. There are eleven spines in the dorsal and four in the 

 anal, the third being usually very long. The ventral fins have 

 one spine and seven soft rays. The whole head and body are 

 rough with prickles. The coloration is always brilliant, the 

 ground hue being scarlet or crimson, often with lines or stripes 

 of white, black, or golden. The fishes are valued as food, and 

 they furnish a large part of the beauty of coloration so charac- 

 teristic of the fishes of the coral reefs. The species are active, 

 pugnacious, carnivorous, but not especially voracious, the 

 mouth being usually small. 



The genus Holocentrus is characterized by the presence of 

 a large spine on the angle of the preopercle. Its species are 



