ICHTHYOLOGY. 



299 



Classifica- Its excellence as an article of diet was known to Paul Joviiis, 



tion — who compares it to Turbot. Dories, very similar to the 



Acanthop- European fish, are found at the Cape of Good Hope, and 



Fig. 115. 

 Capros australis. 



in the seas of Japan. A distinct species exists in the Aus- 

 tralian seas, which has the same black mark on the sides. 

 The Capros aper, occasionally taken on the British coast, 



Fig. lie. 

 Lampris guttatus. 



and more common in the Mediterranean, is also represented 

 in the Australian seas. Indeed, the Scoraberoids and the 



Fig. 117. 



Equula serruUfera. 



fishes most nearly allied to them, arc very general in their 



distribution, appearing in almost precisely the same forms Classifica- 

 iii the two hemispheres, and in both the Atlantic and Pacific . ''""T" 

 sections of tlie ocean. The Lampris guttatus is a rare 'T" 

 and beautiful fish of great size, whose headquarters seem 

 to be in the northern seas. It is seldom taken on the Bi'i- 

 tish coasts, and still seldomer in the Mediterranean. 



The EquulcB are small fishes, very interesting from their 

 forms, but of no great utility to man. 



Family XVII.— ZEID^. 



Scomberoid fish, witli protractile mouths, forming, in the Ills- 

 toire dcs Poissons, the Jijlli tribe of Scomberidr^. Mouth very pro- 

 tractile. Feeble teeth, not numerous. Bodies oval, much com- 

 pressed. 



Genus I. Zeus, Linn. [Zdni, Bonap.) One dorsal deeply 

 notched, or two contiguous dorsals, anterior one spinous, with tili- 

 form tips taller than the spines ; ventrals rather before the pec- 

 torals ; anal spines four. Caudal rounded. Dermal shields bony, 

 along the bases of tlie dorsal and anal. A very protractile mouth. 

 Branchiostegals seven. Teeth small and feeble. Stomach large, 

 caecal; pyloric ca;ca extremely numerous ; air-bladder simple, oval, 

 large. Six species. 



Genus II. Capros, Lacep. Deeply notched dorsal, and a still 

 more protractile mouth than Zeus ; destitute of the spinous bucklers, 

 but covered with very rough scales. Eye large. Caudal rounded. 

 Branchiostegals five to eight. Spines of the anal two or three. 

 Teeth very small. Two species. 



Genus III. Caprophonus, Miill. and Trosch. Distinguished 

 from Capros by a single row of upper and under teeth, by the 

 roughness of the ma.\illary, and by the three spines of the anal 

 forming a separate fin before the soft one. 



Genus IV. Lampuis, Kisso. A single dorsal greatly elevated 

 in front into a long falciform point, the low part running back to 

 near the caudal ; anal long and low ; ventrals long, correspond- 

 ing in form to the front of the dorsal under which they are at- 

 tached ; the dorsal has two small short spinous rays in front, and 

 the anal only one. Scales small, very thin. Stomach ctecal, coni- 

 cal ; pancreatic cseca above sixty, each dividing dichotomously se- 

 veral times ; air-bladder very large, terminated behind by two 

 short, horn-like processes. One species. 



Genus V. Equula, Cuv. Small Scomberoids. Mouth small, 

 protrusive as in Gerres, furnished with fine teeth like those of a 

 Chcetodon. One or two small spines on the anterior frontal; near 

 to which are the two contiguous orifices of the nostril. A small 

 osseous crest behind the nape in front of the dorsal, and a similar 

 one between the anus and anal fin, sometimes spinous at the tip. 

 Anal and dorsal fins long, higher in front, the second and third 

 spines being strong and tall ; ventrals under the pectoral consist- 

 ing of a strong spine, and five soft rays. Body oval, much com- 

 pressed ; serrated along the bases of the dorsal and anal. Very 

 small smooth scales. Branchiostegals generally eight, sometimes 

 nine. Stomach ca3cal, conical; two pancreatic cseca; air-bladder 

 having two projections posteriorly. Twenty-four species. 



Genus VI. Mi'.ne, Jja.cep. Body high; the dorsal profile being 

 a flat curve, the ventral one very convex, with the ventrals at its 

 apex under the pectorals, but at a great distance from the head ; 

 the intervening thoracic space presenting a trenchant edge, sup- 

 ported by the pubic bones and coracoids. Mouth protractile. Ven- 

 trals with a very short spine and five articulated rays, the first one 

 being long. Dorsal, with four spinous rays, more elevated in front 

 but low posteriorly, and extending to near the caudal ; anal long 

 and very low, its very short rays much branched ; caudal forked. 

 Skin smooth and satiny. Stomach siphonal ; pancreatic caeca nu- 

 merous, extremely slender, and having very delicate coats ; air- 

 bladder very large. One species. 



CH.ffiTODONTS 



Have received the name of Squamipennes, because the 

 softer, and frequently also the spinous, portions of the dorsal 

 and anal fins are covered with scales, which, as it were, en- 

 crust them, and render their discrimination from the rest 

 of the body by no means easy. This is the most obvious 

 character of these fishes, of which the form is in general 

 much compi-essed. The intestines are rather long, and tlie 

 caeca numerous. This family was comprised by Linnaeus 

 in his genus Chatodon, so called from the long, slender, and 

 hair-like character of the teeth ; and the species in general 



