442 



VEUTEHKATA. 



curitms instinct. 



w 



TUB FLY-SUOOTBR. 



It has a wide nioutli, witli tin- Iowht jaw considerably projecting; it throws a 



hirgc jet of water with such force and pre- 

 cision as ahiiost invariably to bring down 

 a lly at the distance of two or three feet. 

 The ffe»«sEPIlIPPUS: Ephipjms.— 

 Includes the Banded-Ephippcs, E.faber, 

 five to eighteen inches long. It ap- 

 pears occasionally in great numbers on our 

 coasts duriuir summer. The fishermen call 

 it Three-tailed Sheejf s-Head and Three- 

 tailed Porgee. In South Carolina it is 

 called Am/el-Fish. Its range extends from 

 New York to Rio Janeiro. 



The Moox-FisH, E. gigas, is fifteen 

 inches long, and has the same geograph- 

 ical distribution as the preceding. The 

 body is of an oblong oval ; the scales 

 large, the teeth conical, bristly, and in 

 numerous series. The color is dark bluish 



brown, with metallic reflections ; the sides of the bead are tinged with lustrous green. 



Genus PIMELEPTERUS: Pimelepterus. — To this belongs the Razor-Fish, P. Boscii, six 



inches long ; the form of the body is oval ; the color brownish, with faint longitudinal lines ; 



found on our northern coasts. 



THE TEUTHID^. 



This includes a small number of fishes, all inhabitants of hot climates, remarkable for having 

 the sides of the tail armed either with sharp prickles or a large curved spine. They are also 

 noted as being herbivorous fishes, and feeding on sea-weed. The species with spinous tails, if 

 incautiously handled, inflict severe wounds on their captors. The Surgeon, Acanthurus chirur- 

 gus, a West Indian species, received its popular name from its dangerous qualities in this respect. 



THE SCOMBERID^, 



This great family includes two divisions, all of which live in the sea, and are of predaceous 

 ^_ habits. In the first division the body is short, 



broad, and compressed, presenting a resemblance 

 to the Chcetodontidce. In the other the form is 

 more attenuated. Of the first the Blepharis 

 may be taken as a type ; of the last, the Mack- 

 erel. 



Genus BLEPHARIS: Blepharis.— Tins in- 

 cludes the IIair-finned Blepharis, B. crinitus. 

 five to six inches long ; bluish-white above, shiny 

 beneath ; found, though rarely, on the American 

 coast. 



Genus ZEUS: Zeus. — This includes the John 

 DoREE, Z. fuher ; average weight five pounds ; 

 found on the P^uropean coasts, and celebrated for 

 the delicacy of its. flesh. This fish, having a 

 golden spot on each side of it, contends with the 

 haddock for the honor of bearing the marks of 

 St. Peter's fingers, each being supposed to have been that out of whose mouth the apostle took 

 the tribute-money, leaving on its sides in proof of the identity, the marks of his finger and 

 thumb. There is another origin assigned to the golden spots ; an old legend says that St. 

 Christopher, in wading through an arm of the sea, bearing our Saviour, caught a Doree, and 



THE BLEPHARIS. 



