108 ACANTHOPTERYGII. CH^TODONTID^E. 



genus ChcEtodon has many species in which Na- 

 ture appears almost to have disported herself by 

 clothing them in the most gaudy manner. Rose, 

 purple, azure, and velvety black, are distributed 

 along the surface of their bodies, in stripes, rings, 

 and ocellated spots on a silver ground ; nor are 

 the beauties of these fishes lost to man, or con- 

 fined to the depths of ocean. They are small, 

 and usually remain near the shore, between the 

 rocks, where there is but little water. Here 

 they are incessantly sporting in the sun-beams, 

 as if for the purpose of displaying the ornaments 

 they have received from Nature." * 



In almost all the members of this numerous 

 Family, the muzzle projects into a prominent 

 snout ; and in some of the genera, as Zanclus^ 

 and more especially Chelmon, it is produced into 

 a long narrow tube. In the latter genus, a very 

 curious instinct and endowment attend this pecu- 

 liarity of structure. In the year 1763, Dr. 

 Schlosser presented to the Royal Society a spe- 

 cimen of the East Indian species, now known as 

 Chelmon rostratus, with some information on its 

 singular habits, which had been given him by Mr, 

 Hommel, governor of the hospital at Batavia, in 

 Java. The fish " frequents the shores and sides 

 of the sea and rivers in search of food ; when it 

 spies a fiy sitting on the plants that grow in 

 shallow water, it swims on to [within] the distance 

 of four, five, or six feet ; and then, with a sur- 

 prising dexterity, it ejects out of its tubular 

 mouth, a single drop of water, which never fails 

 striking the fly into the sea, when it soon becomes 

 its prey. 



* Griffith's Animal Kingdom, x. 322. 



