436 FISHES. ACANTHOFTERYGII. 



gated compressed, and covered with small irregular scales ; 

 branchiae with a large operculum and a membrane with short 

 rays ; two small bifid cirri under the throat. 



O. barbatum, Bloch. Bearded Ophidium. Head small and naked; 

 body silvery ; dusky above and reddish beneath,, spotted all over 

 with small oblong dusky spots ; vertical fins margined with black. 

 8 to 10 inches long. Inhabits European seas. B Shaw, iv. pi. 7. 



Gen. 14. FIERASFER, Cuv. Ophidium, Lin. 

 Body oblong and slender ; head short, flattened ; no cirri ; dor- 

 sal fin so small as to resemble a fold of the skin. 



F. imberbe, Lin. Body purplish brown, gradually decreasing in 

 thickness to the tail ; head thick and rounded at the snout ; no 

 cirri, and dorsal fin very small. 3 inches long. Inhabits European 

 seas. Wern. Mem. i. pi. 4, fig. 2. 



Gen. 15. AMMODYTES, Lin. 



Body slender and elongated ; dorsal, anal, and caudal fins sepa- 

 rate; snout pointed, the upper jaw susceptible of extension, and 

 the lower in repose longer than the other ; no swimming- vessel. 



A. Tobianus, Lin. The Sand-Launce. Body above bluish green ; 

 sides and belly silvery ; lateral line dusky, with another line near 

 the back and a third near the belly. 3 to 8 inches long. Inha- 

 bits sandy shores of Northern seas. Shaw, iv. pi. 9. 

 The Sand-launce is found on most of our sandy shores during the summer months, 



and is dug or drawn out by means of blunt hooks at the recess of tide. 



ORDER IX. ACANTHOPTERYGIL 



First rays of the dorsal, ventral, and anal fins supported by 

 simple spinous rays. 



This order includes the greatest portion of the ordinary fishes. They are distin- 

 guished by the spines which form the first rays of the dorsal fin, or which support 

 or alone form the first dorsal fin where there are two. The first rays of the anal 

 fin are also spinous, and there are generally one spine at each ventral fin. The dif- 

 ferences of character, however, are otherwise so various, that Cuvier divides them into 

 eight natural families. 



FAMILY I. T^NIOIDES. 



Body extremely long and flattened, with a dorsal fin the length 

 of the body. 



This family is divided into two tribes by Cuvier, according to the form of the jaws. 

 The first of these has the snout short and the maxillaries distinct ; the second is 

 characterized by a pointed snout, and the gape wide. 



1 . Snout short. 



Gen. 1. CEPOLA, Lin. 



Body elongated and compressed ; dorsal, anal, and caudal fins 



