300 



ICHTHYOLOGY. 



Classifica- 

 tion — 



Acanthop- 

 terous 

 Fishes. 



are alike remarkable for their singular forms and splendid 

 colours. 



The seas of the torrid zone liave indeed no cause to envy 

 tlie productions of those famous lands, the shores of which 

 / they have so long bathed uith their translucent waters. If 

 the equatorial regions of Africa and America possess, among 

 their feathered tribes, the brilliant Souimangas, the lustrous 

 Humming-birds, and the gorgeous Chattei-ers, the interme- 

 diate ocean and the Indian seas contain countles-s thousands 

 of the finny race whicii siu'pass even these in splendour. 

 The Cha>todons, in particular, form a family on which nature 

 has bestowed her ornaments with a lavish liand. The deep 

 purple of the iris, the ])aler richness of the rose, the azure 

 blue of the crystalline sky, the darkest velvet black, and 

 deepest violet tint of the pansy, are seen combined with 

 metallic radiance on the pearly bodies of this resplendent 

 group. The eye of man receives the greater pleasure from 

 their contemplation, in that, being of moderate or small 

 size, and flaunting habitually tlie coral basins of the trans- 

 parent tropical seas, tliey disport tliemselves in tlie beams 

 of a vertical sun, as if desirous of exliibiting their splendid 

 liveries to the greatest advantage in the blaze of day. 



TABLE OP GENERA. 



yo palatine teeth. 



Brasli-like teeth on both jaws. Tribe I. 

 Freopercuhtm not spinous. 



Dorsal single, wholly scaly. 



None of the dorsal spines ending in filaments. 

 Ch^etodon, Chelmon. 



Some of the dorsal spines with filamentous tips. 

 HSNIOOHUS, Zanclds. 



Dorsals two, the soft one alone scaly. 

 Three anal spines ,- scales large, 

 Ephippus, Dbepane. 



Four anal spines ; scales small, imbedded. 



SCATOPHAGUS. 



Dorsal merely notched. 

 Tauriciithys. 



Preopercuhtm bearing a strong spine. 



HOLOCANTHCS, POMACANTHUS. 



Exterior teeth tricuspid ; interior ones villiform. 

 Platax. 



Fine and short villiform teeth on the jaws. 

 Psettus. 



Palatine teeth present. 



Trenchant teeth on both jaws. TRIBE II. 

 Pimelepterus, Diptekodon. 



Card-like teeth on both jaws. Tribe III. 

 Brama. 



Villiform teeth. 



Pempheris, Toxodon. 



These genera are placed in tribes in tlie Histoire des 

 Poissons. The first tribe being the Squamipennes with 



wliose name is framed to describe this kind of dentition, in Classifica- 

 wliicli the individual teeth are longer and stouter than tion— 

 villiform teeth, and resemble the strong bristles of a clothes- Acanthop- 

 brush. In fig. 53 the coarse brush-like teeth of Histiop- 

 term recurvirostris are v\cll shown. The tissue of the 

 teeth of most Cha;todonts is albuminous, they have a yel- 

 lowish colour, and are flexible and elastic, but when dry 

 easily broken. 



When once a person has seen several typical fishes of 

 this group, he readily recognises the family character. The 

 dense scaliness of the fins, which gradually taper out of the 

 thickness of the body, so that one cannot tell without dis- 

 section where the one ends and the other begins, is very 

 different from the small scales which creep on the mem- 

 brane or rays of the vertical fins of some Scia;noids, as 

 Ni'bris, Lepipteris, &c., and these never have the flexible, 

 bristle-formed teeth of horny texture with whicli the true 

 Chastodons ai'e furnished ; and, moreover, show more or 

 less of the muciferous development of the bones of the head 

 and face characteristic of Sciffinoids, giving them their blunt 

 facial profile. The Haemulons come nearer to the Scjua- 

 mipennes, but the bases of their vertical fins are set on 

 abruptly on the back and belly, and do not slope off into 

 the sides. The Chaetodons of the Red Sea were known to 

 the ancients. Julian speaks of them under the name of 

 Citharcediis. None of the species come into the seas of 

 Europe, except the Brama Raii. which wanders occasion- 

 ally to the coasts of England. The Chelmons are Cliajto- 

 dons with a tubular prolongation of the premaxillary and 

 mandible, in form of a long, slender snout. 



Fig. 118. 

 Cha:todon ephippium. 



brush-like teeth, forming the Linnsean genus Chatodon, 



Fig. 119. 

 Chelmon marginalis. 



The species here figured was unknown to the authors of 

 the Histoire des Poisso/is, but its habits, from the great 

 similarity of its conformation, may be considered as similar 

 to that of the two species described in that work. Cliehnon 

 rostratus, or enceladits, is an inhabitant of the sea and rivers 

 of Java, and has the instinct of throwing a drop of water 

 from its bill, so as to light upon any insect resting on a leaf 

 or blade of grass near the stream, and thus make it fall that 

 it may instantly dart upon it. Tliis was observed recently 

 by M. Reinwardt, and an account to the same import is con- 

 tained in the Philosophical Transactions for 1 764. The 

 Chinese residing in Java keep this fish in jars, and tempt it 

 to practise its peculiar art for their amusement, by placing 

 an insect on a rod or thread within range of its shot. 



Zancliis cornutiis of Cuv. has become, on account pro- 

 bably of its singular form and horned front, an object almost 

 of superstitious reverence among the fishermen of the Mo- 

 luccas. It is alleged, that when they happen to capture 

 one of this species, they immediately salute it by certain 

 genuflexions, and then cast it into the sea. It is, however, 

 an excellent table fish, which attains a weight of 15 lbs.. 



