2 ;i2 THE BONY FISHES AND GANOIDS 



with yellow, and the tail fin is uniformly yellow. This species, which attains a 

 length of fifteen inches, is extensively used in India for food. Beautiful as it is, it 

 is exceeded by the Indo-Malayan zebra fish (H. diacanthus). In this species the 

 general color is yellowish, with from eight to twelve vertical brown-edged blue 

 bands; the caudal fin is yellow, and the a.ial marked with bluish lines running 

 parallel to its margin. The genus Scatophagus may be given as an example of a 

 group in which the spinous portion of the dorsal fin is devoid of scales and sepa- 

 rated by a deep notch from the soft part, so that there are practically two dorsals. 

 The above-mentioned Toxotes, on the other hand, constitutes a group by itself, 

 in which there are teeth on the palatines and vomers, and the body is oblong 

 and much less deep than in the typical forms, with the undivided and five- 

 spined dorsal fin situated in its hinder half. It is represented by three species, 

 ranging from the Red Sea to the seas and estuaries of India, Malayana, and 

 Polynesia. 



THE RED MULLETS Family 



Two long erectile barbels dependent from the lower jaw serve at once to dis- 

 tinguish the red mullets from all the preceding families, with which they agree in 

 the characteristics already mentioned. In these well-known fishes the body is rather 

 low and somewhat compressed, with large thin scales, of which the edges may be 

 very finely serrated. The lateral line is continuous, and the moderate-sized eyes 

 are situated on the sides of the head. The terminal mouth has a rather short lateral 

 cleft, and the teeth are very feeble. There are two short dorsal fins, placed at a 

 considerable distance from one another; the spines of the first being weak, and the 

 second being placed above the anal, which it resembles in form. Theventrals have 

 one spine and five rays, and the pectorals are short. In place of the seven branchi- 

 ostegal rays of the perches, the red mullets have but four. Represented by some- 

 thing like forty species, the red mullets, which range over the seas of Europe and 

 the tropics, are typically represented by the genus Mullus, of which there appears 

 to be but a single European species (Mullus barbatus}. The tropical forms have, 

 however, been split up into several genera, such as Mulloides and Upeneus, mainly 

 distinguished from one another by the characteristics of their teeth. Although 

 these mullets are essentially marine, young individuals, and more rarely adults, are 

 not unfrequently taken in rivers. They are all highly esteemed for the table, and it 

 is but seldom that they attain a weight of even two or three pounds. The ordinary 

 European red mullet, which does not usually exceed six inches in length, is colored 

 carmine red on the upper parts, the under parts being silvery white. On the other 

 hand, the striped mullet, which, although designated a distinct species under the name 

 of M. surmuletus, is regarded by Dr. Giinther as probably the female of the former, 

 has three or four yellow longitudinal stripes on the sides; and is also stated to differ 

 slightly in the number of the fin rays. This kind is common on the Cornish coast, 

 whereas the plain-colored form is but seldom met with in the British seas, although 

 abundant in the Mediterranean. Mullets live chiefly on small crustaceans, frequent- 



