BONY FISHES AND GANOIDS. 465 



five feet, and is probably as dangerous to bathers as are the larger kinds 

 of Serranus. 



Among the most gorgeously coloured of all the class, are the tropical 

 chsetodonts or scaly-finned fishes, readily distinguished from the foregoing 

 families by the extension of the scaling on to the median 

 fins. All are deep-bodied fishes, with cycloid or ctenoid Family 



scales, on which a continuous lateral line runs nearly to the Chcetodontidce. 1 

 caudal fin. Their mouth, which may be tubular, is armed 

 with bands of minute teeth. Of the fins, the pelvic are thoracic, with a 

 single spine and five rays ; three or five spines are found in the anal ; and 

 the spinous portion of the dorsal is shorter than the rayed part. Stripes or 

 spots are distinguishing features in the coloration of these fishes, which are 

 mostly inhabitants of coral-reefs, where they feed on such animals as they 

 can capture, although some ascend large tidal rivers. In the typical Chcetodon 

 the palate is devoid of teeth, the 

 dorsal fin is not deeply notched, and 

 has spines of nearly uniform length, 

 while the muzzle is short or moder- 

 ately produced. Some kinds have 

 the body ornamented by fine lines, 

 while others have on each side a large 

 eye-like spot. Chelmon merits notice, 

 on account of the elongation of the 

 muzzle into a tube, from which the 

 fish ejects a drop of water with such 

 force and accuracy of aim as to dis- 

 able any insect that may be resting 

 on the foliage near the shore, and 

 thus secure it for food. Both the species of shooting fish are Oriental, and 

 are found both in rivers and near the coast. Other well-known genera are 

 Heniochus and Holacanthus, the latter best known by the gorgeously coloured 

 emperor-fish of the African and Oriental seas. In this fish the body is 

 coloured a brilliant blue, ornamented with about thirty narrow gold stripes. 

 Even more resplendent is the Oriental zebra-fish, in which the ground-colour 

 of the body is yellow, marked with numerous vertical bands of blue margined 

 with brown. 



That epicurean delicacy, the red mullet (Mullus barbatus), typifies a small 

 family distinguished from other Perciformes by the possession of a pair of 

 barbels on the lower jaw. In this family the number of 

 pairs of branchiostegal rays is only four ; and the somewhat Family 



low body has large, thin, finely serrated scales, with a con- Mullidce. 

 tinuous lateral line. The dentition is weak. As regards the 

 fins, there are two dorsals, in the first of which the spines are thin, while 

 the second is placed above, and is similar to the anal, the pectorals being short, 

 and the pelvics being furnished with five rays and a single spine. Mullets 

 are comparatively small fish, of which the adults are marine. What appears 

 to be the male of the common red mullet is uniformly carmine-red above, 

 although the presumed female is marked by a few longitudinal yellow stripes. 

 Tropical forms have been assigned to distinct genera. To preserve the 

 brilliant red coloration, the fish should be scaled immediately after death. 



1 Although the chaetodonts are included by Dr. Giinther in the Perciformes, it is not improbable 

 that they may be separated by Mr. Boulenger, when his Catalogue of Fishes is completed. For 

 the present they may remain here. 



31 



