1 12 ACANTHOPTERYGII. — CH^TODONTIDiE. 



desirable to it, in these repeated strokes ; but what 

 could the naked hand of the worthy naturahst 

 yield in the way of food ? We must be content 

 to reckon the action among the thousands which 

 we observe in animals, to which our habits, in- 

 stincts, and reason, afford us no clue whatever. 



The colours of these little fishes, we have al- 

 ready said, are beautiful, and the style of colora- 

 tion is not less striking than the tints themselves. 

 A very common combination in the group is a 

 ground colour of silvery white, frequently tinged 

 with rose or yellow, on which are drawn narrow 

 parallel lines of vivid colour, meeting at a sharp 

 angle on the lateral line, frequently varied by 

 ocellated spots, and transverse bands of black 

 across the body and fins. Not rarely the ground 

 colour is golden yellow, more or less intense, 

 crossed by black bands. 



The species are very numerous ; one hundred 

 and ninety-four are enumerated by the Prince of 

 Canino as belonging to the Family, of which one 

 hundred and fifty are of the typical form. They 

 swarm in the warm seas, all round the globe, but, 

 as far as we know, only in the vicinity of land. The 

 reefs of coral with which the shores, both of the 

 islands and continents in the equatorial regions, 

 are girt, are the favourite resorts of these painted 

 little fishes. Not a single species of the typical 

 Chgetodons is found so far north as Europe ; 

 there is, however, one belonging to the more aber- 

 rant genera, closely allied to the Archer (Toxotes), 

 whose occasional capture on these coasts warrants 

 its enumeration among British Fishes : with a 

 notice of its generic and specific characters we 

 close oar account of the Family. 



