598 COXTEIBUTIOXS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY lY'. 
terminal; premaxillaries protractile; maxillaries without supplemental 
bone, slipping under the membranaceous edge of preorbital; the anterior 
teeth in the jaws usually very strong; teeth of the jaws separate or 
more or less soldered together, sometimes forming a continuous plate; 
no teeth on vomer or palatines ; lower pharyngeals completely united 
into one bone, without median suture. Lips thick, longitudinally pli- 
cate. Nostrils round, with two oi)enings on each side. Dorsal fin con- 
tinuous, the spinous portion long; anal similar to soft dorsal, usually 
with two or three spines. Ventrals thoracic, I, 5. Branchiostegals 
5-'i. Pseudobranchiai present. Gills 3^; the slit behind the last arch 
small or obsolete; the gill-membranes somewhat connected, often joined 
to the narrow isthmus. Air-bladder present. No pyloric coeca. Genera 
65, species 450, chiefly of the tropical seas. Many of them are brilliantly 
colored, and some are valued as food-fish. Most of them feed upon mol- 
lusks, the dentition being adapted for crushing shells. The group has 
been much subdivided, and many of the current genera are distinguished 
by characters of little importance. 
{Lahridxe Giiutber, iv, 65-244.) 
a. Teeth iu jaws. distinct; pharyngeal teeth not confluent; anal spines 3. 
b. Dorsal fin with 15-20 spines; teeth all conical; no i)osterior canines; lateral line 
continuous. (Labrinw.) 
c. Preopercle serrate; cheeks and opercles scaly; teeth iu a band, the outer en- 
larged Ctenolabkus, 315. 
cc. Preojiercle entire ; cheeks scaly; oiiercles naked ; teeth in about two series. 
Tautoga, 316. 
ccc. Preopercle entire ; cheeks and opercles scaly; teeth in a single series. 
Lachnol^mus, 317. 
bb. Dorsal fin with 8-13 spines. {Jididince.) 
d. Lateral line continuous. 
e. Cheeks and opercles scaly ; dorsal siiines 12 ; posterior canines present. 
Harpe, 318. 
ee. Cheeks and opercles naked or very nearly so; dorsal spines 9. 
/. Posterior canines well developed Platyglo.ssus, 319. 
ff. Posterior canines obsolete Pseudojulis, 320. 
dd. Lateral line interrupted; head naked, its upper edge usually trenchant. 
XVRICHTIIYS, 321. 
aa. Teeth in jaws confluent; pharyngeal teeth pavement-like ; anal spines 2; scales 
large. (ScarincB.) 
g. Teeth jiartly separate, the anterior distinct; dorsal spines flexible. 
Calliodon, 322. 
gg. Teeth soldered together, forming a plate like the jaw of Tetrodon; 
each jaw divided on the median line; dorsal spines flexible ; scales 
on cheeks iir two or more rows Hemistoma, 323. 
