/pO DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. 



the pteraclis from India. The most common is 

 the coiyphcena hippurus, the dolphin of the sai- 

 lors, a fish from 3 to 4 feet in length, of a beau- 

 tiful silvery blue, with yellow fins. It is very 

 abundant in the seas of hot and temperate cli- 

 mates, and feeds mostly on the flying fish (exo- 

 ccetus}. 



The principal character of the acanthuri is, 

 that they are provided with one or more strong 

 spines on each side of the tail. We have seven- 

 teen species of them. The monoceri, Willugh. , 

 are allied to the acanthuri, as having like them 

 caudal spines, but they differ in the more or 

 less prominent process which has caused them to 

 be named sea-unicorns. "We have three species 

 from the Indian seas. 



The family of the squamipennce is so called 

 because the fishes which belong to it have the 

 greatest part of their dorsal and anal fins co- 

 vered with scales. We have more than one 

 hundred species of this family, which M. Cu- 

 vier has divided into eighteen genera. The most 

 numerous is that of the chaetodons, which have 

 very numerous teeth, close set and setaceous; 

 they are striped with lively colours, and are na- 

 tives of the Indian and American seas. They com- 

 pose eight sub-genera, of which we have forty- 

 two species in the collection. There is only 



