Series Plectognathi 413 



peculiarity gives the name of trigger-fish as well as the older 

 name of Batistes, or cross-bow shooter. There are no ventral 

 fins, the long pelvis ending in a single blunt spine. The numer- 

 ous species of trigger-fishes are large coarse fishes of the trop- 

 ical seas occasionally ranging northward. The center of dis- 

 tribution is in the East Indies, where many of the species are 

 most fantastically marked. Batistes carotinensis, the leather- 

 jacket, or cucuyo, is found in the Mediterranean as also on the 

 American coast. Batistes vetula, the oldwife, oldwench, or 

 cochino, marked with blue, is common in the West Indies, 

 as are several other species, as Canthidermis sufflamen, the 

 sobaco, and the jet-black Melichthys piceus, the black oldwife, 

 or galafata. Several species occur on the Pacific Coast of 

 Mexico, the Fez Puerco, Batistes verres, being commonest. 

 Still others are abundant about the Hawaiian Islands and 

 Japan. The genus Balistapus, having spinous plates on the 

 tail, contains the largest number of species, these being at the 

 same time the smallest in size and the most oddly colored. 

 Balistapus aculeatus and Balistapus undnlatus are common 

 through Polynesia to Japan. Mos*t of the tropical species 

 of Balistidcs are more or less poisonous, causing ciguatera, the 

 offensive alkaloids becoming weaker in the northern species. 

 Melichthys radula abounds in Polynesia. In this species great 

 changes take place at death, the colors changing from blue and 

 mottled golden green to jet black. Other abundant Polynesian 

 species are Xanthichthys tineopunctatus, Batistes vidua, Batistes 

 bursa, and Batistes flavomarginatus. 



The File-fishes : Monacanthidae. Closely related to the Balis- 

 iidcB are the Monacanthidcs, known as filefishes, or foolfishes. In 

 these the body is very lean and meager, the scales being 

 reduced to shagreen-like prickles. The ventral fins are 

 replaced by a single movable or immovable spine, which is 

 often absent, and the first dorsal fin is reduced to a single spine 

 with sometimes a rudiment behind it. The species are in 

 general smaller than the Balistida and usually but not always 

 dull in color. They have no economic value and are rarely 

 used as food, the dry flesh being bitter and offensive. The 

 species are numerous in tropical and temperate seas, although 

 none are found in Europe. On our Atlantic coast, Stephana- 



