EDIBLE riSHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 193 



Order lY.—FLECTOaNATHI. 



Skeleton incompletely ossified witli the vertebrae in small numbers. Gill- 

 openings narrow, situated in front ot" the pectoral fins : gills pectinate. 

 Mouth narrow : the bones of the upper jaw usually firmly united, and some- 

 times produced into the form of a beak. Teeth in the jaws may be distinct 

 or absent. A soft dorsal fin, situated opposite to the anal, and belonging 

 to the caudal portion of the vertebral column : elements of a spinous dorsal 

 also present in some genera : ventral fins none or reduced to spines. Skin 

 smooth, or with rough scales, or ossified in the form of plates or spines. 

 Airbladder without pneumatic duct. 



Geographical distribution. — Mostly pcdagic, but some inhabit large rivers, 

 while many are resident in the estuaries and tidal waters of the tropical and 

 temperate zones. 



Family.— BALISTID^. 



Body compressed : snout somewhat produced. Jaws armed with distinct 

 teeth in small numbers. Spinous dorsal reduced to one, two, or three spines : 

 ventral to a single pelvic prominence or entirely absent. One genus with a 

 barbel. Skin covered with scutes, or rough, or spinate. 



In the genus Balistes the consumption of the flesh is at times attended 

 with symptoms of acute poisoning ; this, according to Dr. Menuier, is 

 caused by the action of the poison on the nervous tissue of the stomach, 

 which occasions virulent spasms of that organ, and shortly afterwards of all 

 the muscles of the body ; the usual symptoms of poisoning soon follow, and 

 the patient frequently expires in a paroxysm of euifering. No attempt 

 appears to have been made to locate the seat or distribution of the poison 

 in Balistes; this, however, has been successfully demonstrated, in the case 

 of another Plectognathous genus, Tetrodon, by a series of experiments 

 conducted in Japan by Drs. D. Takahashi and Y. Inoko, whose researches 

 conclusively prove that the chief seat of the toxic power lies in the ovaries 

 and liver. The Leatherjackets (^Monacanthus) are, however, free from all 

 poisonous properties and are excellent as food. 



Genus.— MONACANTHUS. 



Monacanthus, Cuvier, Eegne Anim. 



Body compressed. Barbel absent. Upper jaw with a double series of 

 incisiform teeth, six in the outer and four in the inner series ; lower jaw 

 with a single series of six similar teeth. The first dorsal reduced to a spine, 

 which may be strong or feeble, barbed or merely rough ; behind this a second 

 rudimentary spine is generally present : ventral reduced to a fixed or movable 

 osseous process, which may be rudimentary or even entirely absent. Scales 

 minute and rough : some species with cutaneous filaments : adult males of 

 some species with a peculiar armature of the sides of the tail, which in 

 females is much less developed or entirely absent. Vertebrae 7/11-14. 



Geographical distribution. — Tropical and temperate seas. 



Alluding to the edible qualities of the Leatherjackets — by which name the 

 Monacanthi are universally known in the Colonies — Saville Kent, in his 

 Preliminary Eeport on the Pood Pishes of Queensland, writes : — " Although 

 not incorporated among the ordinary food fishes, it is worthy of mention here 

 that many of the species of the Leatherjackets (iLfo«flca?iM2«-), which abound 

 in the Queensland and other Australian seas, are in many instances most 

 excellent eating, their flesh when cooked— the skin being previously 



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