CATALOGUE 



FISHES. 



Order I. ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



{CONTINUED.) 



Fam. 8. SQUAMIPINNES. 



Squamipinnes, part., Cuv. R'eyne Atmn. ; MiiUer, Berl. AhhancU. 1844, 



p. 201 ; Owen, Led. on Coviparat. Anat, Vert. i. p. 49. 

 Chsetodontida), part., Richanh. Ichthyol. 



Body compres.sed and elevated, covered with scales, which are some- 

 times exceedingly finely cUiated, and sometimes smooth. Lateral line 

 continuous, not continued on the caudal fin. Month in front of the 

 snout, generally small, with lateral cleft. Eye lateral, of moderate 

 size. Six or seven branchiostegals. Dentition formed by villiform 

 or setiform bands, without canines or incisors ; some of the genera 

 with teeth on the palate. Dorsal fin formed by a spinous and soft 

 px>rtion of nearly equal development ; anal with three or four spines, 

 similarly developed as the soft dorsal, and both many-rayed. The 

 vertical fins more or less densely covered with small scales ; the spinous 

 portions sometimes not scaly. The lower rays of the pectorals 

 bi'anched ; ventrals thoracic, with one spine and fi^'e soft rays. 

 Stomach caecal ; pyloric appendages in moderate number ; intestines 

 generally with many convolutions. Air-bladder present, more or 

 less simple. Pseudobranchiae well developed. 



Mostly carnivorous fishes, inhabiting the seas between the Tropics, 

 especially of the Indian region ; a few entering rivers or spreading 

 beyond the Tropics. 



