WKKVi:i!S. 



127 



TRACHINOMORPHI. 



7'>V.s-^ (hirsal fill" slinrtf-r thait the second, /'ciidrti! ^tiiis ir'ith hroad hasp and iritli broad and flattened or elong- 

 ated till sal til) lies. \ 'ml rat fins free and Jar/ alar. Branclied rays hi the caadal fin less than Jo. Xo osseous 

 coiniexiiin hiiireni tin- siiliitrhital riiif/ and the preoperculnm. Jairs and palatine hones {as a rule) with teeth. 



Between the Mackerels and the Cottoids Gunther'' 

 has phvced some families whieh do not belong in their 

 entirety to this division'', but apparently consist of a 

 series of types wiiich connects the most abnormal Ano- 

 malopterous forms with the Lahromorplii, as well as 

 with the Percomorphi. In tlie ZTranoscopi the Trachi- 

 noid type conies near the Batrachidce, and tlie latter 

 in their turn form a transition to the Lophioid group; 

 but within the family Traehinidce. itself — provided 

 it be possible to retain it with Gunther's definition — 

 the genera Percis and Pinguipes clearly point to the 

 Lahridm and also to the family Malacantliidm'' , while 



the dental equipment of the palate led Cuvier to in- 

 clude the Weevers in the Percoid famih', as "Perches 

 with jugular ventral tins." The other fishes in the 

 group resemble the Cottidce or, in their compressed 

 form, the BJenniidcB. 



The members of this group are, as a rule, poor 

 swimmers, and l)ottom-fishes, and for the most part 

 live near shore, where they lie in ambush for their 

 prey or entice it by the movements of their strange 

 appendages. Most of them belong to the Southern 

 Hemisphere, where in the Antarctic regions they take 

 the place of the Cottoids in the Arctic fauna. 



Fam. TRACHINIDJ]. 



Body long and compressed. Head without armour'. Scales {where they exist) cycloid or granular. The eyes 

 are set laterally, but high up, and admit of being turned upwards. Anal and second dorsal fins long in proportion 

 to the length of the abdominal region. Basal bones of the pectoral fins broad and flat, but of ordinary shape. 

 Jaw-teeth of uniform size, or with several canines interspersed in front. Lips without fringes. Lateral line 



unbroken. Gill-openings in front of the pectoral fins. 



With this definition the family- essentially corres- 

 ponds to GOnthk.r's subfamily Trachinini, which was 



intended to include 14 genera, only one of which is 

 represented in the Scandinavian fauna. 



" Or the spinous-rayed part, wlicrc the fin is contimioiis. 



'' •Systematic Si/jwpsis, 1. c. 



' GlJNTHER has himself remarked the resemblance between the genus Sillngo (among his I'mdiinidir) and the Scisenoids. 



<> Cf. Cuv., Vai,., HM. Nat. Foiss., vol. Ill, p. 277 and GOnther, Cat. Brit. Miis., Fish., vol. III. p. 358. 



•" In old specimens of Tracliinus, however, tlic tup of the head (the forehead and occiput) is naked and rough, as in the Uranoscopi. 



