302 B^A UTIFUL MEMBERS OF THE PEUCH FAMIL Y, 



seas, is remarkable for its chaste coloring, the ground-shade 

 being of a silvery gray, relieved by eight narrow black 

 bands, which either entirely or in part surround the body. 

 The fins have a yellowish tint. It is about eight or ten 

 inches in length. The Two-banded Diploprion, an inhabi- 

 tant of the coast of Java, also claims the same relationship ; 

 the colors are a fine reddish-yellow, relieved by two cross- 

 ing bands of black; length of the fish about six inches. 

 Another genus is the Mediteranean Apogon, about the same 

 length as the last-named fish, but of far more brilliant colors. 

 The prevailing color is of a crimson-red, paler on the lower 

 parts, with three deep black markings. The whole surface 

 of the body is covered over with small black spots or dots. 



To the same extensive family belong the Lettered Sera- 

 nus, a beautifully-marked fish, found on the coasts of the 

 Mediterranean. The general ground-tint of the skin is a 

 reddish-orange, sometimes inclining to olive, and shading 

 to a pale tint on the lower parts. The back is banded, as 

 in the Perch, with dull brown bands, but the most showy 

 marks are the narrow irregular lines of rich blue which run 

 on the nose below the eyes and on the cheeks, which assume 

 the form of written characters (hence the name "lettered"). 

 The ground color of the fins is gray, spotted sometimes 

 with reddish-orange, and sometimes with purple. The 

 Spined Seranus, belonging also to the same warm seas, is of a 

 brilliant red or scarlet, which on the sides assumes a golden 

 tint, and on the belly becomes pale or almost silvery. Upon the 

 sides of the head are three bands of golden yellow, and on 

 the forehead are bands of bronzed green: the fins are 

 tinted with red and yellow. This fish in length is generally 

 from five to seven inches. 



The Beautiful Pledropoma, also of the Perch family, mer- 

 its its name from the lovel}^ colors it exhibits. This fish in- 

 habits the tropical seas, and some species are unusually 

 lovely. The ground-tint of the body is olive, crossed by six 



