288 



XXV. FAMILY OF THE FILE FISHES. 

 BALISTID^. 



Representatim in British Fauna. Sp. 1. 

 Gen. 102. Balistes. STp.^lB.B.Capriscus. European File-fish. 



The family of the File-fish, which is a very 

 numerous and important one in tropical seas, is en- 

 titled in this place only to a very brief notice, as it 

 can scarcely be said to form a part of our indigenous 

 fauna. The species are most numerous on the 

 shores of India and America, and two only occurring 

 in the Mediterranean, they cannot even be con- 

 sidered as very characteristic of European Ichthy- 

 ology. The colours of many of the foreign species 

 are very warm and beautiful. 



(Sp. 213.) B. capriscus. European File-fish. Has 

 been long known as an inhabitant of the Mediter- 

 ranean, and there is only one instance on record of 

 a single individual having wandered to our shores. 

 It was captured on the Sussex coast, in 1837, as 

 announced by Mr. Children in his address to the 

 Zoological Club of the Linnean Society at the close 

 of that year. It was a small specimen measuring 

 about nine inches and a half, whereas the ordinary 

 length is between one and two feet. It is named 

 File-fish, in common with the rest of the family, in 

 consequence of the first dorsal spine being covered 



