ICHTHYOLOGY. 



167 



terygii 



PercidK. 





Acanthop- spiny ; and the jaws, the front of the vomer, and almost al- 

 ways the palatine bones, are furnished with teeth. 

 , The species of this ftmiily are extremely numerous, es- 

 pecially in the tropical seas. Their flesh is in general 

 wholesome, and of an agreeable flavour. By far the great- 

 er number have their ventral fins attached beneath the 

 pectoral, and thus form a first division, named 



Thokacic I'ercid^.' 



A. Seven branchial rays ; two dorsal ^ns. 



a. All the teeth small and croivdcd. 



Genus Perca, Cuv. I're-opercle dentated ; bony 

 opcrcle terminated by two or three sharp points ; tongue 

 smooth. Sometimes the sub-orbital and humeral bones are 

 slightly dentated. 



Tlie common perch (Perca Jluviatilis, Linn.), Plate 

 CCXCVIII. fig. 1, one of the most beautiful of the fresh- 

 water fishes of Europe, is too familiarly known to require de- 

 scription. It inhabits both lakes and rivers, but shuns salt 

 water.- As an article of food it is still in some estimation, 

 although the character given of it in that respect by Au- 

 sonius is higher than accords with modern views. The 

 female deposits her ova, united together by a viscid matter, 



I'erciiite. 



in lengthened strings, a peculiarity noted by Aristotle. Acanthop- 

 The number of these eggs sometimes amounts to nearly a ter.vB"- 

 million. The perch occurs over all Europe, and most of 

 the northern districts of Asia. Pennant alludes to one 

 said to have been taken in the Serpentine River, in Hyde 

 Park, which weighed nine povnuls. But even one half of 

 that weight would be regarded as extraordinary in the pre- 

 sent species. 



The Perca Italica occurs in the south of Europe, and is 

 distinguished by the want of the black bands so conspicu- 

 ous in the common kind. Several other sjiecies are found 

 in North America. P. ciliata is a native of Java; and P. 

 trutta occurs in Cook's Strait, New Zealand. 



Genus Labrax, Cuv. Distinguished from the preced- 

 ing by scaly opercula terminating in two spines, and by 

 the roughness of the tongue. 



To this genus belongs the basse or sea-perch {P. labrax, 

 Linn.; Labrax liqms, Cuv.), Plate CCXCVIIL fig. 2, a fish 

 of a chaste and pleasing aspect, though destitute of the 

 more strongly contrasted colours of the fresh-water spe- 

 cies. Its upper parts are gray, with bluish reflections, 

 which gradually shade away into a silvery whiteness o]i 

 the under surface. The pectoral fins are slightly tinged with 

 red. It occurs along the Dutch and British shores, but is 



ORDER UI._MALACOPTERYGII SUB-BRACHIATI. 



FAMILY I. GADID^. 



Gadus. 



Slorrhua. 



Merlangus. 



Merluccius. 



Lota. 



Motella. 



Brosmius. 



Brotula. 



Phycis. 



Raniceps. 

 Macrourus. 



FA5IILY II rtEURONECTID^. 



Pleuronectes. 

 Platessa. 



Hippoglossus. 



Rhombus. 



Solea. 



Monochirus. 



Achirus. 



Plagusia. 



FAMILY III. — DISCOBOLI. 



Lepadogastcr. 



I.epaclogaster proper. 



Gobiesux. 

 Cycloptems. 



Lumpus. 



Liparis. 

 Echeneis. 



Synbranchus. 



Alabes. 

 Saccopbarynx. 

 Gymnotiis. 



Gyninotus proper. 



Carapus. 



Sternarchus. 



Gymnarchus. 



Leptocephalus. 



OpblcUum. 



Ophidium jirojier. 



Fierasfer. 

 Ammodytes. 



ORDER V._LOPHOBRANCnir. 



Syngnathus. 

 Syngnatlius proper. 

 Hippocampus. 



Solenostomus. 

 Pegasus. 



ORDER VI._PLECTOGNATHI. 



ORDER IV._MALACOPTERYGII APODES. 



FAMILY I ANQUILLIFOBMES. 



FAMILY 1 GYMNODONTES. 



Aluraena. 

 Anguilla. 

 Anguilla proper. 



Conger. 

 Ophisurus. 

 Muroena proper. 

 Sphagebranchus. 

 Monopterus. 



Diodon. 

 Tetrodon. 

 Orlhagoriscus. 

 Triodou. 



FAMILY II. SCLERODERMI 



Balistes. 



Balistes proper. 



Monocanthus. 



Aluteies. 



Triacanthus. 

 Ostracion. 



SecondGreat Series, called CHONDROPTERYG II, or CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. 



ORDERL(7thoftheentireClass.)— STURIONES, orCHON- 

 DROPTERYGII WITH FREE BRANCHIAE. 



Acipenser. 

 Spatularia. 



Chimsera. 



Chimajra proper. 

 Callorhynchus. 



ORDER II. (8th of the entire Clas8.)_CHONDROPTERY. 

 GII WITH FIXED BRANCHI^. 



Mustelus. 

 Notidanus. 

 Selache. 

 Cestracion. 

 Spinas. 

 Centrina. 

 Scymnus. 

 Zygoena. 

 Squatina. 

 Pristis. 

 Raia. 



Rhinobatus. 

 Rhina. 

 Torpedo. 

 Raia proper. 



Trygon. 



Anacanthus. 



Jlyliobatis. 



Rhinoptera. 



Cephaloptera. 



FAMILY II SICTORII. 



Petromyzon. 

 Myxine. 



Heptatremus. 



Gastrobranchus. 

 Ammocsetes. 



' Almost all the species were included by Linnseus in his genus Perca, but Cuvier has divided them, as shown above, according 

 to the amount of the rays of the branchiae, the number of the dorsal fins, and the nature of the teeth. 



» Pallas, however, is said to have remarked, in a work, we believe, still unpublished (Zoographia linsso-Asiatica), that about spawn- 

 jug time both i)ike and perch are found in a gulf of the Caspian Sea, about thirty verstes from the mouth of the Terek. 



