ACANTHOPTERYGII. 101 



dentated border on the preoperculum. They are small fishes, and 



generally red. One of ihem, 



Ap.rexmullorum^ Cuv. ; Mullus imberbis, L. ; commonly called 

 Boi lies JRougets, Cuv. Mem. du Mus. I, 336 and pi. xi, f. 2, 

 three inches long; red; a black spot on each side of the tail; is 

 found in the Mediterranean.(l) 



Cheilodipterus, Lacep. 



All the characters of the Apogons, differing only in the fangs or 

 long and pointed teeth with which the jaws are armed. 



They inhabit the Indian seas, are small, and generally marked 

 with longitudinal streaks. (2) 



POMATOMUS, RisS. 



Two separate dorsals like the Apogons, and the scales dislodged 

 with the same facility; but the preoperculum is simply striate, the 

 operculum emarginate, and the eye enormous; very small crowded 

 teeth (en velours i'cis). 



Pomat. telescope, Risso; Cuv. and Val. II, xxiv. The only 



species known; it inhabits the Mediterranean, and is excessively 



rare. 



A second subdivision comprises the Percoides with two dor- 

 sal fins, and long and pointed teeth mingled with the small 

 and crowded ones. 



Ambassis, Commers. 



Nearly the same form as that of the Apogons; a double notch to- 

 wards the lower part of the preoperculum; the operculum termi- 

 nating in a point. They are distinguished from the Apogons by 

 the contiguity of their two dorsals, and by a spine before the first. 

 Strictly speaking, they do not perhaps belong to this family, for 

 there are no appendages to the pylorus. 



(1) This IS i\i&Apogon rouge, L.&ce-p.; the Corvidus, Gesner, p. 127', 3; the 

 Amia of Gronovius, Zooph., IX, 2; the Ceniropomus riibens, SpinoL, An. Mus. 

 X, XXVIII, 2, the Dipterodon ruber, Rafin- Caratt. No. 715, &c. Tlie Dipterodon 

 hexacanihe, Lacep. Ill, pi. iv, f. 2, and the Ostorinque Jleurieu, Id. Ill, xxxii, 2, also 

 belong to this genus. For the numei'ous species of this genus foreign to Europe, 

 see Cuv. and Val., II, 151, et seq. 



(2) Cheilod. 8-vittatus, Cuv., Lacep. Ill, xxxv, 1; which is his Cheilod. ray^, 

 III, p. 543, and his Centropome macrodm, IV, 273. Cheilod. arabicus [Perca 

 lineata, Forsk), Cuv. and Val., II, pi. xxiii. Ch. 5-lineatus, lb. p. 167. 



