80 NATURAL HISTORY. 



SMOOTH SERRANUS, and the DUSKY PERCH (Serranus gigas). In this genus both jaws have very 

 distinct canine teeth. The Dusky Perch is met with on the coasts of France and Spain, and in the 

 Mediterranean, where it sometimes reaches a weight of sixty pounds, though in the Indian Ocean 

 its size becomes enormous. In British seas they vary from ten to twenty pounds. The colour 

 of the back is a dark reddish-brown, becoming paler on the belly. The Smooth Serranus also 

 abounds in the Mediterranean, and reaches southward to Madeira. This fish has sometimes been 

 believed to be hermaphrodite, one lobe of the roe consisting of ova and the other lobe consisting 

 of milt ; but this view, though sanctioned by Cuvier, is probably an error, due to some peculiarities 

 in its reproductive apparatus. 



Plectropoma is a genus limited to the tropical seas of both hemispheres. In English seas 

 the Stone Bass (Polyprion cerniutn) is met with. The species ranges southward to Madeira and 

 the Mediterranean. It has sometimes been called the Wreck-fish, from the circumstance that it 

 often comes in with fragments of wreck, which are covered with the goose-barnacle. Couch remarks 

 that they gambol round these floating objects, and he has known their tails to be excoriated by 

 rubbing against the wreckage. They do not feed on the barnacles. As many as thirty-five have 

 been taken by a single boat round one piece of wreck. The fish is about eighteen inches long, and 

 is valued for table. 



FAMILY II.-PEISTIPOMATID^E. 



This is a large family, and is distinguished from the Percidae by having the palate tooth- 

 less. In one or two genera there are no teeth, but usually minute teeth are arranged in bands, 

 and in some genera they are pointed and conical. The air-bladder is usually undivided. They 

 are carnivorous fishes, found in the seas of temperate and tropical regions ; a few occur in fresh 

 waters. In British seas the group has but two representatives Dentex vulgaris and Mcena vulgaris. 

 Dentex is a widely-distributed genus, met with in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, Red Sea, Sunda 

 Sea, and the Sea of Japan. It always has strong canines in both jaws. There are only six 

 branchiostegal rays ; the dorsal fin is continuous. There is a notch at the posterior end of the 

 swim-bladder. The British species is a rare visitor on English coasts, and is more at home in the 

 Mediterranean and about the Canary Islands. It carries four canine teeth in each of the jaws, 

 the outer pair stronger than the inner pair. The fourth dorsal spine is the longest. The colour 

 is silvery-blue, witli some irregular black spots on the back. Mcetia vulgaris scarcely extends beyond 

 the Mediterranean, and in British waters has only once been met with on the Cornish coasts. 



FAMILY III. SQUAMIPINNES. 



The Squamipinnes comprise twelve genera, arranged in three divisions, according to the presence 

 or absence of teeth on the palate and the position of the dorsal fin on the back. This is a group 

 of carnivorous fishes, especially abounding in the Indian region and other seas between the tropics, 

 though a few genera have a wider range, and enter rivers. The intestine is generally convoluted ; 

 the stomach forms a pouch, and has a few pyloric appendages. The vertical fins are more or less 

 covered with scales, the eyes are placed laterally, and the teeth are like short bristles. The body 

 is compressed and remarkably deep, and frequently marked with black and white spots and 

 transverse or oblique bands, the colours of which are extremely brilliant. Swainson observes that 

 the Chsetodons are the most beautiful of the whole class of fishes. None of them are large, and 

 all are said to be nutritious and savoury food. . Among the genera of this family, Chelmo has 

 the muzzle elongated into a cylindrical tube, with a small cleft in front for the mouth. There are no 

 teeth on the palate, and there is no spine on the pre-operculum. The body is greatly compressed from 

 side to side, and is deep. Clwlmo rostratus has five vertical brown cross-bands, which are bordered 

 with white and brown. A round black spot bordered with white occurs in the middle of the soft 

 part of the dorsal fin. This species sometimes ascends rivers, but is chiefly found in the Polynesian 

 seas between India and the West Coast of Australia. Heniochus is distinguished by having the 

 fourth spine of the dorsal fin prolonged into a delicate whip-like process. Holacanthus has a long 

 strong spine developed from the posterior angle of the pre-operculum, and a similar spine is seen 

 in Pomacanthus. Ephippus has the colour uniform in the adult. Atypus and Scorpis are two 

 genera which are almost limited to the Australian seas; both these types have the dorsal fin 



