Till 169 



greatly compress^! throughout its length, and is equally delicate with tin- last mention. <1 

 s|i-i'-o. Ii i- chieth notable for tin- \er\ <M|.| -.tnictnre of tin- wntral tins, which are ivdured 

 U> loiiir. slender filament-, much !e-*-ml'lin^ in sha|- tin- lon^r tail f.-ni It. -i - of tin- racket -tail 

 humming-bird. This li-li -ometime- ;iit:niis very gn-at dim. -unions ; sjNTimens ha\c \^-\\ 

 tak.-n meaMirinir twelve f.-et in length. Its color in nil very -gray, mottled \\iili dusky -|...ts.il' 

 varying l'pth, w hich :n-- mn-t c- nispiciiinis tiuanl tin- ln-:il. Tin- Imli- surface i.f the -Uin 



/ y 

 S mE* 



.. _^>' 



h 



. 



OARKO CiYMNKTIUS, OB RlBBOH-fgH^Jlprt ri I tfttfIL (OuMwdflh nUnnl .!.) 



is plentifully studded with bony tubercles, and on the line of the abdomen earh tubercle ia 

 furnished with a hooked point <lirw;ted backwards. Along the lateral line runs a row of 

 elongated flat scales. 



IK the next family. th> tail is mostly arm-<l with one or more bony spines or plates, small 

 in the young, but increasing in size with tin- <liin-iisions of the fish. 



The SEA i i:-.i "\ (Acanthurus chirurffiu) is a j?ood type of these fishes, and derives its 

 popular name from the sharply-pointed and keen-edp-d spin,- on tin- -id- <>f tin- tail, which 

 cuts and wounds like a surgeon's lano-t. The generic nam.-. -iirnifv inir Thm-n tail, is given to 

 it in coasequence of this structure. This species is foun<l on the Atlantic coasts of tropical 

 Ani'-rica ami Africa, and is tol.-raMy plentiful in the Caribbean seas. Theseulesof this fish 

 are very small, ami the single spine on each side of the tail is movable and set in a longi- 

 tudinal groove. Its food is of a vegetable nature. 



In color it is nit her variable, but the ground tint is usually of a brown Mi hm-. and tin- 



operculum lias a bla^k edge. In some sp-nim-ns tl ml <>f th- tail is marked with a white 



1-and. which encroaches on part of the tail Jin, and tli.-re is also a narrow white edge to that 

 I'm. 'I'll- ! an- in certain individuals a few darkish streaks drawn across tin- Ixxly, some black 

 loniritndin-il strijioson tin- dorvil and anal tins, mid in the yotin.tr th-- -id.-- an- marked with 

 darkish wa vin.t: lin-'s. This fMi sometime-* attains a rather lari." si/... a -p.M-imen l.-in^ nine 



t.--n inches in length. The genus is nitln-r < ipn-h-n-ive. containing betwe.-n forty and fifty 



known sivie8. 



