458 Pareioplitae, or Mailed-cheek Fishes 



and two free feelers on the pectoral fin instead of three. The 

 species of Peristedion are occasionally taken with the dredge. 

 Peristedion cataphractum is rather common in Europe. The 

 extinct Peristedion urcianense is described from the Pliocene 

 of Orciano, Tuscany. 



The Flying Gurnards : Cephalacanthidae. The flying gur- 

 nards, Cephalacanthida, differ in numerous respects and are 

 among the most fantastic inhabitants of the sea. The head 

 is short and bony, the body covered with firm scales, and the 

 very long, wing-like pectoral fin is divided into two parts, 

 the posterior and larger almost as long as the rest of the body. 

 This fin is beautifully colored with blue and brownish red. The 

 first spine of the dorsal fin is free from the others and more 

 or less prolonged. The few species of flying gurnard are much 

 alike, ranging widely in the tropical seas, and having a slight 

 power of flight. The flying robin, or batfish, called in Spanish 

 volador or murcielago, Cephalacanthus volitans, is common on 

 both coasts of the Atlantic, reaching a length of eighteen 

 inches. Cephalacanthus peter seni is found in Japan and Cepha- 

 lacanthus orientalis in the East Indies, Japan, and Hawaii. The 

 immature fishes have the pectoral fins much shorter than in 

 the adult, and differ in other regards. Cephalacanthus pliocenicus 

 occurs in the Lower Pliocene of Orciano, Tuscany. 



Petalopteryx syriacus, an extinct flying gurnard found in 

 the Cretaceous of Mount Lebanon, is an ally of Cephalacanthus. 

 The body is covered with four-angled bony plates, and the 

 first (free) spine of the dorsal is enlarged. 



