670 TELEOSTEI ; CHAP. 
the Siamese in 1840 were as infatuated with the combats of 
these fishes as the Malays are with their cock-fights, and the 
licence to exhibit them was farmed, bringing in a considerable 
annual revenue to the king. 
Fam. 32. Embiotocidae.—Second suborbital with an internal 
lainina supporting the globe of the eye; entopterygoid present ; 
palate toothless. Ribs sessile, above and behind the parapophyses, 
where these are present. Two nostrils on each side. Gill-mem- 
branes free from isthmus; 5 or 6 branchiostegal rays; gills 4, 
a sht behind the fourth; pseudobranchiae present. Lower 
pharyngeals united, with conical or pavement-like teeth. Anal 
fin, with three spines. Ventral fins with 1 spine and 5 soft rays. 
Ai : 
SN 
tei ay ANS 
=f WEA) 
Pay, 
west) 
Fic. 409.—Ditrema temminckii, from Japan. x4. (After Jordan.) 
Small or moderate-sized fishes inhabiting California and Japan, 
mostly marine, one species, however, inhabiting fresh waters, 
whilst another descends to a great depth. They feed mostly on 
crustaceans, but one genus (4beona) is herbivorous. The name 
“ Surf-Fishes,” by which they-are generally known, refers to the fact 
that most species are found in the surf along sandy beaches. All 
are viviparous in the strictest sense of the term, the young 
remaining for a long time closely packed in a sac-like enlarge- 
ment of the oviduct analogous to a uterus; they are of relatively 
large size at birth, and quite similar in form to the parent, whilst 
at an earlier period they differ in having the vertical fins much 
more elevated. Twenty-four species are known.’ Principal genera: 
Hysterocarpus, Abcona, Cymatogaster, Embiotoca, Ditrema. 
Fam. 33. Cichlidae.—No subocular shelf; entopterygoid 
1 For recent accounts of the anatomy, embryology, and ethology, cf. C. H. 
Eigenmann, Bull. U.S. Fish Comm. for 1892, p. 381, and Arch. Entwickelungs- 
mech. iv. 1896, p. 125. 
