FLUTE-MOUTHS. 507 



builder, choosing for its operations especially the shallows of 

 brackish water, which are covered with Zostera. 



Second Family — FisTULAPjiDyE. 



Fishes of greatly elongated form ; the anterior hones of the 

 skull are omcch p^vduced, and form a long tuhe, terminating in 

 a narrow mouth. Teeth small ; scales none, or small. The 

 spinous dorsal fi,n is either formed hy feeble isolated spines or 

 entirely absent ; the soft dor scd and ancd of modercde length, ven- 

 tral fins thoraeic or aMominal, comp)osed of five or six rays, 

 vnthoid spine ; if abdominal, they are separate from the pubic 

 bones, wliieh remain cdtached to the humeral arch. Branchio- 

 stegals five. 



The " Flute-mouths " are also frequently called " Pipe- 

 fishes," a name which they have in common with the Syn- 

 gnathidce. They are gigantic marine Sticklebacks, living- 

 near the shore, from which they are frequently driven into 

 the open sea ; some of the sjDecies, therefore, have a wide geo- 

 graphical range. Probably all enter brackish water. They 

 are distributed over the whole of the tropical and sub-tropical 

 parts of the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific. The species are few 

 in number, but some of them are very common. 



This family is well represented in Eocene formations ; 

 some of the remains belonging to the existing genera, 

 Fistidaria, Atdostoma, and Auliscops, the two former of 

 which occur not rarely at Monte Bolca and in the schists of 

 Glaris. Well-preserved remains of Auliscops have been found 

 in the Marl-slates of the highlands of Padang in Sumatra. 

 Extinct genera from Monte Bolca are Urosphcn, the cylindri- 

 cal body of which is terminated by a large cuneiform fin ; 

 and Bhamphosics, which has an immense si^inous ray, denticu- 

 lated behind, inserted on the nape. 



