310 



ICHTHYOLOGY 



Classifica- small, edged laterally by the maxillaries, above by the very small 



tlon — premaxillaries. Minute teeth round the margin of the mouth, move- 



Acanthop- able; none on the vomer, palatines, or tongue. Cheeks and gill- 



terous cover scaly ; gill-opening large. A long ray on the occiput; dorsal 



Fishes, and anal commencing opposite each other at the anus, and reaching 



V ^ .^ J to near the caudal, both alike, high at first, then reduced to very 



short simple rays, and then rising again posteriorly. Caudal 



small, forked, on a narrow tail. Scales small, cycloid. No accessory 



gills. Ventrals very long, of three jointed ones the third one much 



and curiously branched. No pyloric caeca ; gut straight, without 



any distinction of stomach ; no swim-bladder. China seas and 



Philippines. The complicated structure of the ventrals in this 



genus is not in accordance with the form of these members in the 



rest of the family. Two species. 



Genus XV. Pharoi'TERYX, Hiipp. Mouth small, rather oblique, 

 armed above and below with 6ne brush like teeth in a narrow 

 band. Palate and tongue smooth. A symphysial filamentous barbel 

 on the mandible. Gill-openings connected with each other above 

 the isthmus. Four branchiostegals. Head and whole body scaly. 

 Lateral line interrupted; body fusiform. Ventrals having five long 

 simple rays situated before the pectorals, connected with each other 

 by a short membrane ; part of the ventral rays flat, lanceolate, and 

 clothed with skin; rays of all the fins undivided and perfectly 

 flexible. Anus not far from the base of the pectorals. Dorsal and 

 anal long, but separated from the rounded caudal ; a notch separates 

 the first six dorsal rays from the remainder. Mediterranean. 



Genus XVI. Iluoc.etes, Jen. Body elontiated, compressed, 

 dagger-shaped, scaleless. Snout projecting beyond the mandible. 

 Teeth acutely conical, uniserial, on the jaws and palatines; two 

 bigger ones projecting near the premaxiUary symphysis; on the 

 ^ front of the vomer few, aggregated. Eyes large, prominent. Bran- 

 chiostegals five; projecting muciferous tubes fringing the mouth, 

 preorbitar and preoperculum. Ventrals minute, three-rayed, jugu- 

 lar ; dorsal and anal fins long and low, uniting with the pointed 

 caudal. Five branchiostegals. The jaws, suborbitar scale-bonea, 

 and preoperculum encircled by muciferous pipes. One species. 



Genus XVII. Piiucocetes, Jen. Similar in form to Iluo- 

 cixtes, but with the mandibular teeth biserlal or trisorial, and two 

 or three strong vomerine teeth in front of smaller ones ; uniserial 

 palatine teeth. Kyes small. Branchial opening very narrow. 

 Branchiostegals six. Pores on the jaws not tubular, but very con- 

 spicuous. AVhole skin porous ; vertical fins as in Iluoccelcs. One 

 species. Cape Horn. 



Genus XVIII. Gunnellus, Cuv. {Murceno'ides, Lacep. ; Cen- 

 tronotus, Schneid.) Ventrals jugular, very small, almost imper- 

 ceptible, often reduced to a single ray. Head very small. Body 

 compressed, elongated, ensiform. A long low dorsal extending 

 along the back to the base of the caudal, and wholly sustained by 

 simple unarticulated rays; anal about half as long, united to the 

 base of the rounded caudal. Teeth as in CUinus. Intestinal canal 

 simple, running nearly straight to the anus; no air-bladder, and 

 no genital papilla. Eighteen species. 



Genus XIX. Carklophus, Kroy. Distinguished from Gunndlus 

 by the presence of pancreatic ca?ca and tentacles. Xo teeth on the 

 vomer. Ventrals having one spine and three soft rays. No lateral 

 line. 



Genus XX. Zoarces. Cuv. Jugular ventrals of few rays. Gene- 

 ral form and most of the structure of Climts and Gunnellus^ without 

 spinous rays in the front of the dorsal or anal, but near the end of 

 the dorsal there are some short spinous rays, followed by articulated 

 ones which unite with the small caudal; the anal also unites with 

 the caudal, but its edge is even, without the depression of the dor- 

 sal. Conical teeth on the jaws, in several rows near the syniphvsis, 

 uniserial towards the corners of the mouth; palate toothless; vivi- 

 parous. No air-bladder. Five species. 



Genus XXI. Lycodes, Ueinh. Body elongated, thick ante- 

 riorly. Head conical, obtuse. Body compressed. Tail ensiform. 

 Scales minute, imbedded in the skin. Stout teeth on the premax- 

 illaries, mandibulars, vomer, and palatines. Branchiostegals six. 

 ^ Membrane united to the isthmus, aperture narrow, posterior. 

 Ventrals merely a single very short rudimental ray. jugular. Tail 

 surrounded by the long vertical fins; rays articulated, divided. No 

 air-bladder. Intermediate between Zoarces and Anarrhichas. Five 

 Bpecies. 



Genus XXII. DiCTYOSOMA, Schleg. Distinguished from (jT/nneZZM* 

 and Zoarces by the entire want of ventrals. Branchiostegals six. 



Genus XXIII. Anarrhichas, Linn. Blennies, without ventrals; 

 dorsal sustained entirely by simple unjointed rays, destitute of 

 stiffness, commencing at the nape and reaching to the base of the 

 caudal, which is distinct and rounded; anal corresponding nearly 

 to the posterior half of the dorsal, and also rounded oflT at the base 

 of the caudal; pectorals rounded. Skin soft, scaleless, and mucoid. 

 Jaws, vomer, and palatines, armed with osseous plates, that are 

 crowned by small enamelled teeth ; the anterior teeth being more 



Acanthop- 

 terous 



Fishes. 



long and conical. Branchiostegals six. A short fleshy stomach, Classifica 



with a very small caecal part ; no pancreatic caeca; no air-bladder. tion 



Three species. 



Genus XXIV. Opisthognathus, Cuv. Blennioids, with the 

 simple flexible spines of the majority of the family, except the 

 ventral spine which is pungent; ventrals of five soft rays situated 

 under the base of the pectorals ; dorsal and anal even, terminating 

 at a little distance from the rather small rounded caudal. Scales 

 small. Lateral line distinct. Branchiostegals six. In one species 

 the maxillary is prolonged beyond the corner of the mouth to the 

 coracoid bones, in another it scarcely exceeds the usual size, not 

 passing the border of the preoperculum. Fine card-like teeth on 

 the jaws. Resembling the Blennies in the large blunt head, and 

 cirrhi at the nostrils; but differing in having an air-bladder. Two 

 species. 



LOPHIOIDS. 



Fig. 131. 



Cheivonectes caudimaculattis. (_Vide fig. 1.) 



The Lophioids were, from the softness of their bonea, 

 placed among the branchiostegous fishes by Artetli ; but 

 Cuvier recognisini^ the fibrous structure of their skeletons, 

 brought them back to the AeaniJioptfrf/gii, and since then 

 ]\Iuller has shown that the Ostracions with which Artedi 

 had associated them are themselves osseous fishes. In 

 fact, the wliole organization of the Lophioids is that of an 

 Acantliopterous fisli ; their two dorsals, the composition of 

 the auditory organs, the Ireedom of tlie semicircular canals 

 within the cranium ; the construction of the digestive vis- 

 cera ; that of the organs of generation in male and female, 

 the connections of the premaxillaries and maxillaries, and 

 of the teeth which they support, as well as the mandibular, 

 palatine, and vomerine teeth, are all characters of true Acan- 

 thoptevL The skeleton itself, though not hard, is fibrous ; 

 and this is the case in the common Lophlns with respect to 

 all the cranial bones without exception, those also of the 

 jaws, gill-covers, scapular chain, the spinal column, tlie fins, 

 OS hyoides, and gills, all of which liave the fibrous structure. 



Distinctive characters of the family are to be found in 

 the almost general absence of scales, which arc replaced in 

 Mallhcra by bony tubercles, and in many species of Chci- 

 ronectes by small grains armed witli spines ; in the elonga- 

 tion of the ulna and radius into a kind of arm, whose fingers 

 are represented by the rays of the i)ectoral ; in the restric- 

 tion of the apertures of the gills, and the absence of the 

 suborbitar bones, on M-hich M. Valenciennes places much 

 value as a fixmily characteristic. Cuvier, in his memoir on 

 the Cheironectes^ traces their affinity to the Blennioids and 

 Gobioids as follows : — The advanced position of the first 

 dorsal exists in Cristiceps ; Calliont/mus has only a small 

 gill-opening; Gobius macroaphalns oi'YdWdi^hdi'i the head 

 depressed and wide ; the Penophthahni and Boleophthai mi 

 liave the pectorals supported on arms, and these fish walk 

 anti run over the mud in quest of their prey, like the Chei- 

 Tomctes ; all these facts prove that the Lophioids are 

 nearly allied to the Gobioids ; most of them have, moreover, 

 like these last, a simple intestinal canal, without pancreatic 



