THE ARCHER-FISHES. 



33 



curious of the class, as well by reason of the protuberance and the 

 sharp, recurved horns of the head, and the compi*essed and unequal 

 spines of the back, as on account of the broad, yellow, green, and 

 brown zebraizations which adorn the body. The jaws sometimes 

 are armed with minute teeth like the nap of velvet, as in the archer- 

 fish ; sometimes these teeth are superseded by fine, compact, silky 

 filaments, performing the same functions as the barbs of the whale 

 they serve to strain the water and to retain the little animals on which 

 the hsh preys. The fishes of this class are the Chcetodon, with its rich 

 colors ; the Holacanthus, which is perhaps the most beautiful member 

 of the family; the Pomacanthus, known to our French colonists as Le 

 Portugals (the Portuguese) ; and sundry others. 



Of the Chcetodons, some have the muzzle long and slender, formed 

 by the bones of the jaw, which are united along nearly their entire 

 length by a membrane, so that the mouth is simply an horizontal slit 

 at the extremity of this cylinder, or elongated cone. The vertical 

 diameter of the body is very great, and the upright fin of the back is 

 high and scaly ; the tail is cut square ; the profile, which is concave 

 in front of the eyes, rises almost vertically, so that the snout is about 

 one-fourth the depth of the head. These fishes, known under the 

 name of Chelmons, inhabit the Indian Ocean ; naturalists distinguish 

 two species, the beaked Chelmon and the long-beaked Chelmon (see 

 the latter in Fig. 1). These species differ from each other not only in 

 length of beak, but also in the arrangement of the colors which adorn 

 them. 



hid. 1. 



In the beaked Chelmon the body is greenish and iridescent ; the 

 fins are green, with reflection of azure ; a black spot, surrounded by 

 a pearl-white circle, is seen on the dorsal fin, in length about one- 

 third that of the soft rays ; five vertical stripes of azure-color, and 



