I C H T H Y 



Classifica- Family XXI.— AULOSTOMID^, Miill. 



tion — Bouches-en-FlutCy Cuv. ; Aulostomi (liohrenmaukr), Miill. ; Aulo- 



Acanthop- stomatida, Cant. Uharacterizfd by the prolongation of the nasal, 



terous vomer, preopf-rcula, interopercula, pterygoids, and tympanies. 



Fishes. into a long tube, with the mouth at the extremity, formed as usual 



^ ■ - I - ^ of the preraasillaries, ma.xillaries, palatines, and mandible. The 



intestines have no great dilatations nor many folds, and the ribs 



are either short or wholly absent. 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OP THE AULOSTOMID^ (Dum.) 



Dorsal iingUy and 



Preceded by spines AuLOSTOMA 2. 



Not preceded by spines FiSTULARID-El. 



Vorsals two. 



Conspicuous, the first ray stiff, denticulated Centiiiscus 4. 



Sheathed beneath a kiud of shield Amphisile 5. 



Genus I. Fistularia, Linn. Mouth of small extent, placed at 

 the extremity of the tubular face, having a nearly horizontal gape. 

 The elongated head constitutes a third or fourth part of the entire 

 length of the fish, which is itself long and slender. Branchiostegals 

 six or seven. Bony processes stretching from the head give support 

 to the anterior part of the body. Stomach a straight fleshy tube; 

 pancreatic ca3ca two. Dorsal single, opposite the anal, and composed 

 mostly of simple rays. Small teeth on the premaxillarics and man- 

 dible. A filament sometimes as long as the body issues from between 

 the lobes of the caudal. Koslral tube very long and depressed. 

 An excessively small air-bladder. Invisible scales. Four species. 



Genus II. Aulostoma, Lacep- Dorsal preceded by some free 

 spines. Jaws toothless. Uody distinctly scaly and less slender than 

 that of J^istuhria ; compressed and higher between the dorsal and 

 anal. Tail short and finer, terminated by an ordinary caudal 

 without the filament ; the facial tube is also shorter, thicker, and 

 more compressed than in Fistularia. Air-bladder very large. One 

 species. 



Genus III. Polypterichtiiys, Bleek. Separated from Aulo- 

 stonia by possessing mandibular, vomerine, and palatine teeth. 

 Ternate. 



Genus IV. Centriscus, Linn. Body oval or oblong, compressed 

 and trenchant on the belly. Two or three slender branchiostegals. 

 A spinous dorsal pretty far back, with a strong first spine. Small 

 ventrals behind the pectorals. Mouth very small, opening obliquely. 

 No pancreatic cajca. Intestine folded three or four times ; aconsi- 

 derable sized air-bladder. Large denticulated jilates support the 

 strong anterior spine of the first dorsal ; the rest of the body is 

 covered with small scales. 



Genus V. Ami'uisu.e, Klein. Back cuirassed by large scaly 

 patches whose summit is crowned by the strong dorsal spine ; in 

 some, scaly pieces arm also the flanks and the spine, and the second 

 dorsal and anal are crowded towards the base of the tail ; in others, 

 the cuirass covers only half the back, and the spine is iarlher for- 

 ward. 



GOBIOIDS. 



L G Y. 



305 



Fig. Ii5. 

 Oobius lentiginosus. 



This tamily includes many very curious forms, differing 

 greatly from one another in external aspect, and assembled 

 together chiefly by the flexible nature of their spinous rays ; 

 but even that character is not positive, since in some the 

 spines are pretty pungent. It has been made in some degree 

 a receptacle for genera that could not be placed in other 

 groups, though they exhibited no very marked affinity lor the 

 typical Gobioids. As first conceived by Cuvier, it included 

 the Blennies also, but these have been since separated, aiid 

 Miiller has added the Discoboli of Cuvier, which cannot, he 

 thinks, be kept apart from the Gobioids. Tiie Gobioids have 

 thoracic ventrals, and most of them have these ventrals imited 

 by their interior borders to form an oblique circular, infundi- 

 buliform disk, the front border of tlie disk being membranous 



VOL. xu. 



Acanthop- 

 terous 

 Fishes. 



and lower. This character does not, however, extend to all the Classifica' 

 genera. The Kohioi of Aristotle were not the Gobies of tion— 

 the moderns, since he describes his fish as having numerous 

 pancreatic caeca, whereas our Gobies are destitute of these 

 organs. The Goby of Ausonius is a Gudgeon, and reasons 



are assigned in the Ilisloire des Poissons for the Kobioi of 

 Aristotle and the Kof/io.'t of Athenaeus being the Coitus 

 gohio, and not a Gobioid at all ; while the Phukis of Aris- 

 totle is considered to be the name given by him to the real 

 Gobies. He classes these fish with those which frequent 

 rocky places, and live upon marine alga; and crustacese, 

 which change colotn-s with the season, and which are, accord- 

 ing to his observations, the only fishes of the sea which make 

 a nest of leaves, and deposit their eggs therein. In a preced- 

 ing page, we have mentioned the Sticklebacks as having also 

 this habit. M. Mertens relates, in tact, that the Gobius 

 copilo (erroneously considered by him as identical with G. 

 niger) of the Mediterranean, makes a nest of alga? and zo«- 

 tera ; that the male remains at it to impregnate the eggs of 

 the females which come to lay there ; and that he watches 

 over the eggs and protects the young after they are hatched. 

 The Black Goby, Double Spotted Goby, Spotted Goby, 

 and Slender Goby, are enumerated by Mr Yarrell as British 

 species. The Chinese waters nourish not only many Gobies 

 similar to the European species in general aspect, but also 

 some very peculiar forms. Among these is Tr>/pauchen 

 vagina, the Hung-lae of the Chinese, of which the generic 

 character consists in a deep pit on each side of the nape, not 

 however communicating with the branchial cavity ; and 

 AmUyopus, a genus of several species, and of a very curious 

 aspect. The Chinese generic name is Shay-king or 

 " Warp-snake ;" king meaning the warp of a web ()f cloth, 

 evidently referring to its long anguilliforra body. The face 

 is very strangely wrinkled, and the eyes exceedingly small. 



The Periophthalmi and Boleophthalmi are lively fish of 

 elongated fin-ms, with the united ventrals of the Gobies, and 

 large, gay dorsal fins spotted like the wings of a butterfly. 

 They have narrow gill-openings, and spend much of their 

 lime out of water, ho|)ping over the moist sands left by the 

 retreating tide, and spending a kind of amphibious life, pur- 

 suing the Crustaceae which live on the sands, and, when 

 menaced by a bird of prey, diving into the mud. Their 

 eyes are protected from injury, when they resort to this 

 means of esca])e, by moveable adi])ose lids. The Boleoph- 

 thalmi are named from the power they jjossess of thrusting 

 out their eyes when they wish to look around them ; when 

 the eyes are retracted, the membranous cellular lid swells 

 over them. The thick double lips of these fish, and their 

 himting habits, are expressed by the Chinese name Peih 

 kow-kow, " Broken-mouth dog." 



Eleotris has not united ventrals, and has the aspect of a 

 Sciffinoid. but with a smaller depressed head. Like most 

 of the Gobioid family, organized for living on muddy or 

 sandy bottoms, the mucigenous functions of the skin are 

 called largely into action, and numerous mucoducts open 

 on the surface. This gives them somewhat of the appear- 

 ance of Eleginus, and of the Sciffinoid genera that come 

 nearest to it ; also of Bovichthys, a Percoid form belonging 



Fig. 126. 

 QohicsQX tudts. 



to the Uranoscopiihe, and in fict to the ground-fish of 



