THE BERYCOIDS OR SLIME HEADS 2721 



have one spine and five rays, and the teeth are feeble. These fishes are all of very 

 small size, and are stated to feed exclusively upon insects. 



The single generic representative of the Teuthididce, of which a 

 species (Teuthis striolata) is shown in the illustration . on p. 2722, is 

 characterized by the tooth- 

 less palate, and the presence ^^^^=-^ 



of a series of narrow ser- 

 rated incisor teeth in the 

 front of each jaw. The 

 scales on the oblong and 

 compressed body are very : 

 small, and there is a con- 

 tinuous lateral line. In the 

 single dorsal fin the spinous 

 considerably exceeds the 

 soft portion in length; the 

 anal has seven spines; and SCHOMBURGK'S MANY SPINE. 



the thoracically-placed pel- (Two-thirds natural size). 



vie fins have an outer and 



inner spine, between which are three rays. These fishes have a large air 

 bladder, forked at both extremities; and they also display several peculiarities in 

 the structure of the skeleton; the abdomen being surrounded by a complete ring of 

 bones, owing to the backward prolongation of certain elements of the pectoral arch, 

 and the unusual development of the pelvis. A considerable number of species have 

 been described from the Indo-Pacific, where their eastward range stops about the 

 longitude of the Sandwich Islands. The largest of them is not more than fifteen 

 inches in length, and all are vegetable feeders. In the figured species, which is 

 from the New Hebrides, the general color is brownish red, marked with narrow 

 vermiculated blue lines; the spines of the fins also bearing white spots. 



THE BERYCOIDS OR SLIME HEADS Family 



With the slime heads we come to a family distinguished from the whole of the 

 preceding, and forming a group by itself characterized by the presence on the head 

 of large mucous-bearing cavities, covered with a thin skin, and by the thoracically- 

 situated pelvic fins having one spine and five rays (save in Monocentris, where the 

 latter are reduced to two). The compressed body may be either oblong or deep in 

 form, but is always short; and the scales, which are rarely wanting, are of a ctenoid 

 type. Lateral in position, the eyes are almost always large in size; the lateral cleft 

 of the mouth slopes obliquely upward; the teeth in the jaws are villiform; teeth are 

 in most cases developed on the palatines; the bones of the gill cover are more or less 

 fully armed; and there are nearly always eight branchiostegal rays, although these 

 are sometimes reduced to four. There are no scales on the head, and false gills are 

 present. The slime heads, which comprise a considerable number of both living 

 171 



