4i o The Squamipinnes 



water from the Red Sea to Tahiti. The coloration is rather 

 plain olive or brown, sometimes with white spots, sometimes 

 with bluish lines. The species are very much alike and all 

 belong to the single genus Siganus. One species, Siganus 

 fuscescens, dusky with small, pale dots, is a common food- 

 fish of Japan. Others, as Siganus oramin and Siganus ver- 

 miculatus, occur in India, and Siganus punctatus, known as lo, 

 abounds about the coral reefs of Samoa. Siganus vulpinus 

 differs from the others in the elongate snout. 



A fossil genus, Archoteuthis (glaronensis) , is found in the 

 Tertiary of Glarus. It differs from Siganus in the deeper body 

 and in the presence of six instead of seven spines in the anal 

 fin. 



The real relationship of the Siganidce is still uncertain, but 

 the family is probably most nearly allied to the Acanthurida, 

 with which the species were first combined by Linnaeus, who 

 included both in his genus Teuthis. In the structure of the 

 vertical fins the Siganidce resemble the extinct genus Pygcsus. 



