86 NATURAL HISTORY. 



FAMILY XVII. TRICHIUKID.E. 



These fishes are characterised by having the body elongated, like a band, and have several 

 strong teeth in the jaws, or on the palate. The dorsal and anal fins are long, and formed of 

 many rays. Some forms are naked, others have minute scales; the tail is sometimes furnished 

 with little fins. These fishes chiefly inhabit the seas between the Tropics, and extend into 

 temperate regions, such as the Mediterranean, and are represented in British seas by the Scabbard- 

 .fish (Lepidojms caudalus) and the Silvery Hair tail (Trichiurus lepfMrus). 



The Scabbard-fish is only occasionally met with on English shores. It has pointed and cutting 

 teeth, two round scales in place of ventral tins, and a third triangular scale behind the vent. These 

 are the only scales on the body. The dorsal fin commences at the nape of the neck, and extends the 

 length of the body. The largest specimens are five to six feet long, and weigh, without the intestines, 

 six pounds. There are forty-one abdominal vertebrae, and seventy-one in the tail. Trichiurus is 

 a very rare visitor to the British coast, but is taken in the West Indies and Atlantic coasts of 

 America. It has 110 scales, and the tail terminates like a whip. The spines of the anal fin are 

 hidden beneath the skin. The ventral fins are represented by a pair of scales. 



The Cotto-scombriformes is another division, including fourteen families of fishes. 



FAMILY XVIIL ACROXURID^E. 



These are herbivorous fishes from the tropical seas, and include five genera which have one 

 -dorsal fin with several pi'ominent spines, and one or more bony spines on each side of the tail. 

 The teeth, which are always closely set in a single series, are sometimes lobate. The intestine 

 is greatly convoluted. 



The second section of this division includes the bulk of the fishes allied to the Sconibroids. 



FAMILY XIX. CARANGID^. 



These fishes have ten vertebrae in the abdomen and fourteen in the tail. The soft dorsal and 

 anal fins are of nearly equal extent, and the body is compressed and oblong. The best known 

 member of this group is the Horse Mackerel (Trachurus trachurus), which occurs 011 the temperate 

 coasts of Europe, and ranges, by way of the Cape of Good Hope, through the Indian Seas, to New 

 Zealand, and along the western coasts of America. It is often known as the Scad. It has been 

 caught in the Bristol Channel with the seine net in July, when following the fry of the Herring. 

 It regularly visits the coasts of Cornwall and Davonshira in schools. It makes its appearance in 

 May, and becomes more abundant as the season gets warmer. Ten thousand have been taken at 

 a single cast of the seine on the Cornish coast. When following the Sand Launce, which is a 

 favourite food with these fishes, they frequently come so near to the shore as to be taken by 

 hand. They are not often eaten, though salted in some parts of Cornwall. The flavour is said to 

 be inferior to that of Mackerel, though somewhat resembling it. They reach a length of twelve 

 inches. They are largely fed upon, when young, by sea-birds, and Couch describes the multitude of 

 gulls which pursue them so that there is no room on the surface of the sea for more, and the last 

 corners can alight only on their comrades ; while the gulls thus feed from above, the diving birds 

 hunt the fishes from beneath. 



The first dorsal fin has eight bony rays, the second dorsal fin is long. There is a small 

 tin with two rays in front of the anal ; the colour is usually dusky green on the back. The lateral 

 line is armed with plates, which towards the tail are elevated into a ridge. 



FAMILY XX. CYTTINA. 



This family comprises three genera of Scombroid fishes, well represented in British waters by 

 the Zeusfaber, commonly known as the John Dory, which is distributed round the Atlantic coasts 

 of Europe, extends into the Mediterranean, and is known from the Australian Seas. The body 

 is greatly compressed and oval ; the jaws of the large head can be greatly extended ; the small 

 teeth are placed in a single row in each jaw. The spines of the first dorsal fin are very long, 

 and the membrane between the spines is produced into very long, slender filaments. The second 

 dorsal fin has its rays short. The anal fin has its first spinous rays elongated. A row of spiny 



