35 



SPINY-FINNED GROUP, 



by the thickened and undivided lower rays of the pectoral fin, which in some cases. 

 are elongated so as to aid in the movements, while in others they may perhaps, 

 serve as additional organs of touch. In form, the body is oblong and compressed,, 

 with its investing scales of the cycloidal type; the mouth is terminal, with a 

 lateral cleft ; and the eyes are situated on the sides of the head. As a rule, the 

 branchiostegal rays are six in number, although they may be reduced to five or 

 three. The teeth are villiform or pointed, and in some cases there are tusks- 

 among the smaller ones. In the single dorsal fin the spinous and soft portions are 

 of nearly equal extent ; the anal fin, which is generally smaller than the soft dorsal,, 

 carries three spines; and the pelvics, which, although thoracic in position, are 

 situated at a considerable distance from the root of the pectorals, have one spine 

 and five rays. These fishes are inhabitants of all tropical seas and the temperate- 

 zone of the South Pacific. They may be divided into two groups, according to the 



AUSTRALIAN LONG-FIN (\ nat. size). 



presence or absence of teeth on the vomers ; the first group including the small 

 prettily coloured fishes known as Cirrhites, Chorinemus, etc., of which the former 

 are characteristic of the Indian and Pacific oceans, while the latter is confined to- 

 the Australasian seas. 



CirrMtichtiiys ^ ^ e group with teeth on the vomers, we illustrate on p. 349' 



a species (Cirrhitichthys marmoratus) of a genus differing from the 

 typical one by the presence of teeth on the palatine bones, and by the spiny 

 opercular bone; the preopercular being serrated in both. These fish have six 

 branchiostegal rays, tusks in the jaws, and ten spines in the dorsal fin. Five to- 

 seven of the lower pectoral rays are unbranched, the scales are of moderate size, 

 and there is no -air-bladder. The spotted firm-fin, which ranges from the Red Sea,, 

 through the Indian and Malayan seas to the Sandwich Islands, is one of those in 

 which there is no elongation of a ray of the pectoral fins ; while it is specially 

 characterised by the spotted coloration, the body and median fins showing brown, 

 spots, and a row of darker spots occupying the base of the dorsal. 



