400 The Squamipinnes 



salmon-red and the species live just below the depths ordinarily 

 explored by fishermen. Antigonia capros is found at Madeira 

 and in the West Indies, Antigonia steindachneri about Hawaii 

 and in Japan, while the smaller Antigonia rubescens is abundant 

 in the Japanese bays at a depth reached by the dredge. An 

 extinct genus, Proantigonia from the Miocene is said to connect 

 Antigonia with Capros. 



The Arches : Toxotidae. The archers, Toxotida, have the body 

 compressed, the snout produced, and the dorsal fin with but five 

 spines. The skeleton differs widely from that of Chcstcdon and 

 the family should perhaps rather find its place among the per- 

 coids. Toxotes jaculatrix is found in the East Indies. The 

 name alludes to its supposed habit of catching insects by shoot- 

 ing drops of water at them through its long mouth. 



The Ephippidae. With the typical Squimipinnes, the teeth 

 become very slender, crowded in brush-like bands. The least 

 specialized family is that of Ephippida, characterized by the 

 presence of four anal spines and a recumbent spine before the 

 dorsal. The principal genus, Ephippus (Scatophagus] , is repre- 

 sented by Ephippus argus, a small, bass-like fish, spotted with 

 black, found in the Indian seas, and ranging northward to For- 

 mosa. Species referred to Ephippus (Scatophagus) are recorded 

 from the Italian Eocene of Monte Bolca, where a species of 

 Toxotes has been also found. 



The Spadefishes : Ilarchidae. In the Ilarchida the dorsal is 

 divided into two fins, the spinous part being free from scales. 

 In various regards the species are intermediate between ordinary 

 perch-like forms and the cheetodonts. In these fishes the body 

 is very deep and, with the soft fins, closely covered with roughish 

 scales. In I larches (Ephippus}, represented by I larches or bis 

 of the Indian seas, these scales are relatively large. This 

 species is a common food-fish from India to Formosa. 



In the American genus, Ch&todipterus ; the scales are quite 

 small. The spadefish (Ch&todipterus faber), sometimes called also 

 moonfish or angel-fish, is a large, deep-bodied fish, reaching a 

 length of two feet. It is rather common from Cape Cod to Cuba, 

 and is an excellent pan fish, with finely flavored white flesh. 

 The young are marked by black cross-bands which disappear 

 with age, and in the adult the supraoccipital crest is greatly 



