264 PERCOIDES 



FAMILY IV. PERCOIDES. 



By close examination, it will be observed that 

 the perches, says a writer to whom we are indebt- 

 ed for the discovery, have the dorsal and anal fin 

 slightly scaled, and supported, anteriorly, by sharp 

 spines, the foremost being sometimes folded back 

 and concealed in the scales and dorsal furrow. 

 The body is covered with scales, which are gene- 

 rally large in proportion to the magnitude of the 

 fish ; the intestines are large and provided with 

 coecums, but the swimming bladder is disconnect- 

 ed with the stomach by air ducts. The sparoi- 

 des have one dorsal fin running the entire length of 

 the back, but the perseques have two, or rather 

 there is a tolerably well marked division between 

 the spinous and adipose portions of the organ. 



GEN. SCORP^NA. 



Major-Devil, Yellow Sculpin, — Scorpce- 

 na Porcus, [Lin. vel,flava.] Whether this out- 

 rageously ugly fish gets the name of major-devil 

 because it presents a more horrible aspect than 

 the cottus family, it is not important to inquire. 

 Linnaeus, in this genus, included fish with tuber- 

 culated or spinous heads, pendant cirri, and other 

 cranial accompaniments, conducing to a truly hor- 

 rible appearance. 



