THE OREOSOMA AND THE CH^TODONTINA. 545 



The color of the Black Bass is brown, washed with golden green, and 

 mottled with dark spots on the centre of each scale, darker on the back, 

 and becoming nearly white on the abdomen. When newly caught the 

 body is traversed with several dark bauds. It is a very fine fish, speci- 

 mens having been known to weigh nearly twenty pounds. 



Passing by many large genera, which cannot be noticed for lack of 

 space, we come to a very odd-looking fish, called perforce, for want of 

 a popular title, the Oreosoma, a name formed from two Greek words, 

 literally signifying '' hilly-bodied ;" and the title is very appropriate. 



This remarkable little fish was captured in the Atlantic by Peron, 

 and has ever been esteemed as one of the curiosities of the animal king- 

 dom. Upon the body there are no true scales, but their place is sup- 

 plied by a number of bony or horny protuberances, of a conical shape, 

 and serving no ascertained purpose. These cones may be divided into 

 two distinct sets, the larger set being arranged in two ranks, four on the 

 back and ten on the abdomen, and among them are placed the smaller 

 set. The body of this fish is very deep in proportion to its length, and 

 the operculum has two ridges, terminating in flattened angles. There 

 are two dorsal fins, the first armed with five spin3s. 



We now arrive at a large family, containing a series of fishes re- 

 markable for their extraordinary shape, their bold and eccentric color- 

 ing, and their curious habits. In Dr. Giinther's elaborat 3 arrangement 

 of the Acanthopterygian fishes this family is called by the name of Squa- 

 mipeunes, or "scaly-finned fishes," because "the vertical fins are more 

 or less densely covered with small scales," the spinous portions sometimes 

 not scaly. They are nearly all carnivorous fishes, and for the most 

 part are exclusively inhabitants of the tropical seas or rivers. Their 

 bodies are very much compressed and extremely deep in proportion to 

 their length, and the mouth is usually small and placed in front of the 

 snout. 



The first group of this family — or sub-family, as it might be called — 

 is termed Chsetodontina, from the large typical genus of the group. 

 Their mouths are small, and furnished with several rows of very tiny, 

 slender, and bristle-like teeth — a peculiarity of structure that has 

 gained for them their scientific name Chsetodontina, a term composed 

 of two Greek words, the former signifying " hair," and the latter " a 

 tooth." The colors of the species belonging to this group are brilliant 

 in tint, and are generally arranged in bold stripes or spots. Black 

 and yellow are the prevailing hues, but blue and green are found in 

 some species. 



The figure given on page 546 represents a most remarkable species, 

 called, from the form of its mouth, the Beaked Ch^etodon. 



The curiously-elongated muzzle is employed by this fish in a rather 

 unexpected manner, being used as a gun or bow, a drop of water tak- 



46* 2 K 



