ICHTHYOLOGY 



189 



Acanthop- 

 terygii. 



itself argues pre-eminence, Ziut in Greek signifying the 

 monarch of the gods. 



Genus Capros, Lacep. Dorsal fin emarginate, as in the 

 preceding, and the mouth still more protractile ; but there 

 are no spines to either the anal or dorsal fin. The body 

 is covered with strong rough scales. 



The only species with which we are acquainted is the 

 Zeus aper of Linn, a small fish of the Mediterranean. A 

 specimen was taken in Mounts Bay in October 1825,' and 

 more recently it was observed in the Bridgewater fish- 

 market, as we are informed by W. C. Trevelyan, Esq. 



Genus Lampris, Retzius. A single dorsal fin, high in 

 front, where it is furnished with one or two small spines. 

 The ventrals have ten long rays, and the lobes of the 

 caudal fin are considerably elongated, but these prolonga- 

 tions seem to become effaced by age. The sides of the 

 tail are carinated. 



The only known species (Z. guftatiis, 2kus luna, Gme- 

 lin) occurs, though rarely, off the French coasts, and in 

 the British seas, where it is known as the opah or king- 

 fish. It is one of the most splendid and remarkable of 

 European fishes. Its back is of a deep blue spotted with 

 silver, — the rest of its body like polished gold, reflecting 

 ail the colours of the rainbow. It is certainly sufficiently 

 singular that a species included by Nilsson in his Prodro- 

 mus of the fishes of Scandinavia, should likewise be enu- 

 merated by Kaempfer as occurring in Japan. The opah 

 is a fish of great size, measuring sometimes five feet in 

 length. Its flesh is said to taste like beef. See Plate 

 CCCIII. fig. 6. 



The remaining genera are Equula, Cuvier, and Mene, 

 Lacepede. The Zeus insidiator is an example of the for- 

 mer, — the Zeus maculatus, of the latter. 



FAMILY VIII — T^NIOID^. 



This family is closely connected with the Scomberidae. 

 The species are of a very lengthened form, and flattened 

 laterally, from which they have obtained the name of rib- 

 bon-fishes. Their scales are very small. 



The first tribe' comprehends those genera of which the 

 mouth is small, and but slightly cleft. 



Genus Gymnetrus, Bloch. Body elongated and flat; 

 anal fin entirely wanting ; dorsal fin long, with prolonged 

 anterior rays, which, however, are easily broken ; ventrals 

 also very long, when not worn away by use, or otherwise 

 fractured ; the caudal, composed of few rays, rises verti- 

 cally on the extremity of the tail, which finishes in a 

 little hook. There are six branchial rays. 



The species are so soft and tender that they often pre- 

 sent themselves as it were with false characters, from the 

 natural mutilation of the rays. For this reason they are 

 as yet indistinctly characterized by systematic writers. 

 Even the central skeleton, and especially the bones of the 

 vertebrae, are extremely soft. The stomach is long ; there 

 are numerous caeca; the swimming bladder is wanting; 

 and the flesh, of a raucous nature, decomposes with great 

 rapidity. The European species occur in the Mediter- 

 ranean, and also occasionally in the British and more 

 northern seas. The fish called king/ of the herrings by 

 the Norwegians belongs to this genus. We here figure as 



a curious example the Gymnetrus falx. See Plate CCCIII- Acanthop- 

 fig. 8. We may add, that the Gymnetrus Hawkenii of toryjfii. 

 Bloch, a species originally described from a specimen taken Theuti'lae. 

 near Goa, in the Indian Sea, was many years ago drawn ^^"V"~^ 

 ashore dead on the south coast of Cornwall. It measured 

 nearly nine feet, and weighed forty pounds. The vaag- 

 tnaer, or deal-fish, has also been recorded by Dr Fleming 

 as a British species.-* It is the Gymnetrus Arcticus of sys- 

 tematic authors. 



That very singularly-formed fish, the Slyleptiorus cor- 

 datus of Shaw, forms the remaining genus of the present 

 tribe.* 



In the second tribe of T^Nioina; the muzzle is short, 

 and the mouth obliquely cleft. 



Genus Cepola, Linn. Dorsal and anal fin long, each 

 reaching to the base of the caudal, which itself is rather 

 large ; the cranium is not raised or crested ; the muzzle 

 is very short, with the superior curved upwards ; the teeth 

 are distinct, and the ventral fins perceptibly developed. 

 There are a few unarticulated rays in the dorsal fin, which 

 are as flexible as the others ; the spine of the ventrals 

 alone being stiff and pointed. There are six branchial 

 rays. Both the abdominal cavity and stomach are very 

 short. Some casca are perceptible, and a swimming blad- 

 der, which extends into the caudal extremity. The occa- 

 sional occurrence of a Mediterranean species of this genus 

 ( Cep. rtthescens, Linn.) along the coasts of Devon and Corn- 

 wall has been recorded both by Montagu and Couch.^ 



Genus Lophotes, Giorna. Head short, surmounted 

 by a raised osseous crest, on the summit of which is ar- 

 ticulated a long and powerful spiny ray, bordered behind 

 by a membrane, and followed by a low simply rayed con- 

 tinuous fin, which spreads onwards to the point of the tail. 

 Caudal fin distinct but small ; and beneath the above- 

 mentioned point there are two scarcely perceptible ven- 

 tral fins furnished with four or five exceedingly small 

 rays. The teeth are pointed, and not very close toge- 

 ther ; the mouth directed upwards, and the eyes very 

 large. There are six branchial rays, and the abdominal 

 cavity occupies almost the entire extent of the body. We 

 are acquainted with only a single species (Loph. Lacepe- 

 dianus), which inhabits the Mediterranean, where, how- 

 ever, it is extremely rare. It attains to a large size, that 

 is, to about four feet in length.* 



FAMILY IX.— THEUTID^. 



This family is perhaps as closely allied to the Scombe- 

 ridae as the preceding, but its alliance proceeds from other 

 points,— such as the armature of the sides of the tail in 

 several genera, or the horizontal spine anterior to the 

 dorsal fin in others. It comprises but a small number of 

 foreign genera, with compressed oblong bodies, small 

 mouths, slightly or not at all protractile, armed on each 

 jaw with cutting teeth upon a single range, the palate and 

 tongue without teeth, and a single dorsal fin. The species 

 are of herbivorous habits, feeding chiefly on fuci and other 

 marine vegetation. Their intestines are ample. We are 

 compelled to be brief in our indications of the generic 

 groups. 



The genus Siganus, Forsk. of which the species are 



' Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1833, p. 113. 



' In the Regne Animal, t. ii. p. 217, the first tribe of the family above named is composed of the genera Lepidopiis and Trichiurua, 

 which, however, in Cuvier's later work (Hiit. Nat. dei Poissons, t. viii. p. 217) are placed as an appendix to the first tribe of the ScoK- 

 BERID.E, where we have accordingly placed them in the present article. We therefore commence the T^NioiDiE with what waa 

 formerly the second tribe. 



^ Magazine of Nat. Hist. vol. iv. p. 215. ■• See General Zoology, vol. iv. part 1. p. 87. 



• Linn. Trans, vol. vii. p. 291, and vol. xiv. p. 17. 



• See Mem. deVAcad. de Turin, 1805-8, p. 19; and Ann. du Museum, t. xx. fig. 17- 



