BULL-HEADS AND GURNARDS. 



335 



Beaked 

 Gurnards. 



As a genus remarkable for the singularity of their form, we may 

 briefly notice the beaked gurnards, of which the European representa- 

 tive (Peristethus cataphractum) is shown in our illustration. These rather small 

 fishes are specially characterised by the preorbital bone being prolonged into a 

 flattened process projecting on each side beyond the muzzle ; the whole of the 

 squared head being invested in a solid bony case. Large plates of bone form the 

 body-armour ; the dorsal fin may be either continuous or divided into two moieties, 

 of which the second is the longer ; there are two free appendages in advance of 

 each pectoral fin; teeth are wanting; and the lower jaw is provided with barbels. 

 These fishes, of which there are some ten representatives, range from the southern 

 shores of Britain, through the Mediterranean and Atlantic, and likewise from the 



BEAKED GURNARD ( nat. size). 



Indian Ocean to China and the Sandwich Islands. Nowhere abundant, they are 

 believed to inhabit deeper water than the gurnards, which they resemble in their 

 general mode of life. 



Flying Of more interest than either of the preceding are the so-called 



Gurnards. flying gurnards (Da.ctylopterus) of the Mediterranean, the Tropical 

 Atlantic, and Indo-Pacific Oceans, since they alone share with the true flying- 

 fish the power of taking long flying leaps along the surface of the sea. In order 

 to do this, their pectoral fins are greatly developed, assuming a wing-like form, 

 with the anterior portion shorter and separated from the remainder. The upper 

 surface and sides of the squared, gurnard-like head are bony ; long spines are present 

 on the scapular and preopercular ; the body is covered with medium -sized keeled 

 scales, among which there is no lateral line ; and the second dorsal fin but slightly 

 exceeds the first in length. Although granular teeth are present on the jaw, the 

 palate is toothless. The air-bladder is divided into longitudinal halves, and 

 furnished with a muscle. It is only in the adult that the pectoral fins are suffi- 

 ciently developed to enable these fishes to " fly." Of the three species, the best 

 VOL. v. 25 



