1-28. BALISTID^ — BALISTES. 855 



jaws with iucisor-like teeth, usually four on each side, in each jaw. 

 First dorsal of three spines, the anterior of which is much the largest 

 (the third rarely minute or obsolete); second dorsal and anal rather 

 long, similar to each other, often falcate or filamentous in front; caudal 

 fin usually rounded, with the outer rays produced; pelvic bone very 

 long", with a blunt, usually movable spine at its end; no barbels; 

 branch iostegals C; vertebra} 7 + 10. Species very numerous in the 

 tropical seas. (;5«/a», to shoot.) 



a. Caudal peduncle compressed ; teeth white, uneven, more or less notched ; cheeks 

 without naked stripes; lari^er bony plates behind gill-opening. 

 h. A groove in frout of the eye; tail without spines or tubercles. {Balistes,) 



13 1§. B. vetoilus L. 



Two curved, bluish, dark-edged bands on the side of the head, the 

 lower from the angle of the mouth towards the throat, the upper from 

 above the snout to the root of the pectoral ; a black light-edged line, 

 similarly curved below the eye; several other similar lines radiating 

 from the eye; caudal fin margined above and below with bluish, and 

 with an intra-marginal bluish band ; dorsal and anal fins Avith trans- 

 verse bluish bands ; young with some irregular oblique black lines fol- 

 lowing the rows of scales. Scales on head much smaller and more 

 crowded than those on body; third dorsal spine shorter and weaker 

 than second; caudal fin widely forked, the lobes filamentous and about 

 equal. Head 3; depth li. D. III-29; A. 27; Lat. 1. 03. Tropical parts 

 of the Atlantic; occasional on our coast. 



(Linn. Syst. Nat.; Giinther, viii, '21;').) 



1319. B. caprBseois Gmelin. — Leather-jacket. 



Uniform brownish ; second dorsal and anal chequered or marked 

 with interrupted longitudinal brown lines; caudal mottled; young 

 with numerous small dark-brown dots. Third dorsal spine shorter but 

 stouter than the second; plates on head similar to those on the body; 

 caudal lobes produced in the adult; soft dorsal high, its longest rays 

 1^ in head. Head 3^; depth If. D. III-27; A. 25; Lat. 1. 51 to 57 

 (62 in specimens from Italy); about 35 scales in an oblique series from 

 vent upward and forward. AVarm seas; occasional northward; com- 

 mon on our Gulf coast and in the Mediterranean. 



(Gmeliu, Syst. Nat. i, 1471, 1788; Guuther, viii, 217: JSaliatcs fuUijuiomis Dekay, New 

 York Fauna, Fish. 1812, :i;J'».) 



1320. B. powcli Co]Ui. 



Ashy above, pale below; sides everywhere with series of longitudi- 

 nally oval azure spots; dorsal and anal fins marked with smaller blue 



