MASTERS OF THE WATER-BONY FISHES 207 



while the tide is out. Their reason for doing this is not known. As pan fish, they 

 are excellent. 



Berycoids: Suborder Berycoidei 



Several archaic characters seem to indicate that these fishes bear an ancestral 

 relationship to the rest of the spiny-rayed fishes, probably forming a link 

 between these and the herringlike fishes. The bodies are largely compressed 

 and the fins and bodies very spiny. There are two distinct families in our waters. 



SQUIRREL FISHES: Family Holocentridae 



These are among the most numerous and beautiful of reef fishes. Their 

 bodies are red, and the fins are tinged with yellow. The exceptionally large 

 eye indicates nocturnal habits. Nearly every coral head forms the home of several 

 squirrel fishes. By day, they stay holed up, but they will come out to curiously 

 view a swimmer. By night, beginning at dusk, they become active and feed 

 out in the open. The large eye and large spiny fins identify them. Squirrel 

 fishes also have a large pre-opercular spine which can inflict painful wounds 

 on persons handling them. They are common in all coral seas. 



SQUIRREL FISH (soLDiER fish): Holocentnis ascensionis— Color Plate 3 



Size: Averages 8 inches to 1 foot commonlv. Rarely to 2 feet. 



Distrihntion: Florida and the West Indies. 



Identification: Same as for the family. 



Habits: This is a timid fish by day, but it actively and pugnaciously feeds 

 on fishes and crustaceans at night. It is among the most common of reef fish 

 and, as is the case with many of them, seems to "home," or return to the same 

 hole on the reef, probably not straying far from it even by night. It is solitary as 

 would be expected from the foregoing. 



SURMULLETS: Family Mullidae 



These are very easy fishes to recognize, both because of the long chin barbels 

 that all of the species possess and the wide separation of the spiny and soft 

 dorsal fins. The feeding method is also distinctive. The two chin barbels are 

 held like long, active feelers in front of the fish, exploring the bottom over 

 which the fish is feeding. When so engaged, the fish presents a very amusing 

 appearance as it grazes and pokes busily about like a chicken. The diver usually 

 can approach them closely. Some school and some swim solitarily or in the 

 company of other reef fishes. They are carnivorous, feeding on small inverte- 

 brates. Many books about fish report that most surmullets are bright red, but 

 the diver Vv^ill discover that this is true of many of them only when the fish 

 is dead, dying, or excited. When naturally swimming about, most species have a 

 pale whitish to pink or rosy ground color. 



Surmullets are found in all tropical and subtropical seas and are extremely 

 characteristic of reef areas. 



spotted goatfish: Ufeneus maculatus— Color Plate 3 



Size: Up to about 10 inches. 



Distribution: West Indies north to Florida. 



