SHOOTING-FISH. AN ABAS. 95 



never have the teeth in the form of flexible bristles as in most of 

 the Squamipennes, and their inflated muzzle is often sufficient to 

 distinguish them. 



18. The .Squamipennes, in which the jaws are furnished with 

 several ranges of teeth, similar in conformation and arrangement 

 to the hairs of a brush, have been united under the name of 

 CH^ETODON. Their mouth is very small, and the dorsal and anal 

 fins are so covered with scales that it is difficult to distinguish them 

 from the body : they are very numerous in the seas of hot 

 regions, and very remarkable for the beauty and variety of their 

 colours. 



19 The CASTAGNOLES, Brama, and the AJICHERS, Toxotes, 

 &c. differ from the Chaetodons in many respects, particularly in 

 having teeth on the vomerand palate. The first have the muzzle 

 very short, the forehead vertical and a very small number of 

 spinous rays concealed in the anterior portion of the dorsal fin : 

 they inhabit the iMedi terra nean. The Archers, or shooting fishes 

 have the forehead very oblique, and the dorsal fin very far back, 

 armed with strong spines, and not covered by scales. The com- 

 mon species, Tttxotw jaatlator, inhabits the Ganges, and the 

 seas of India ; it is celebrated on account of the manner in which 

 it projects drops of water on insects that frequent aquatic plants, 

 in order to throw them down and feed on them. They throw a 

 drop three or four feet high, and rarely miss their aim. This 

 singular instinct is common to a species of Chaetodon that inhabits 

 the same places. 



20. The FAMILY OP LABYRINTHIFORM PHARYNGEALS, is a small 

 family remarkable for possessing very complicated cells above 

 the branchia3. These cells, enclosed beneath the operculurn and 

 formed by the lamellae of the pharyngeal bones, serve to retain a 

 certain quantity of water which keeps the branchiae humid, when 

 the animal is exposed to the air, and enables it to live in this way 

 for a considerable time: these fishes are in the habit of leaving 

 the rivers and pools, their ordinary abode, and going to con- 

 siderable distances by crawling on the grass or on the land. 

 Those that possess this labyrintniform apparatus in the highest 

 degree of complication, and which have received the name of 

 ANABAS, not only remain a long time out of water, but also, as 

 we are assured, climb trees. Most of the fishes of this family 

 Inhabit India and China. 



IS. Whit are the Chaetodons ? 



19. VVhat are Castagnoles ? What are the characters of the Shooting- 

 fish' 



20. VVhat are the characters of the Labyrinthi'orm pharyngeals 1 What 

 are their habits? 



2O* 



