HED SCOBPION-FISU. Swrt**Mu scrvju. 



none of which comprise many species. Altogether, this family is not larger than many 

 single genera. The members of which it is composed are all exotic species, inhabiting the 

 " seas of the tropical regions and the southern temperate parts of the Pacific," and never, 

 so far as is known, making their appearance on the British coasts. 



It would, however, be unwise to assert that such fish never do come within reach of 

 our coasts, for it is manifestly impossible to decide the precise range of any active 

 inhabitant of the ocean. Perplexing as is the task of ascertaining the habitation of 

 migrating birds, the difficulty of fixing the range of fishes is far less easy to overcome, as 

 the transition from the tropical to the temperate, and from them to the colder seas, is so 

 extremely gentle, that a fish of errant disposition, or one that has been caught in a long 

 lasting storm might be, and has been often, driven into strange waters which it does not 

 know, and from which it can find no retreat. 



The Banded Chilodactyle is a native of the Chinese and Japanese seas, and there are 

 specimens in the British Museum from both these localities. The dorsal fin of this fish 

 has the fourth spine much elongated, and the membrane of the spinous portion deeply 

 notched. The pectoral fins have also one spine, the last but four, considerably lengthened 

 and pointing backwards. The colour of the fish is light brown, with several bands of a 

 darker brown and spots of the same hue. A rather broad blackish band runs along the 

 soft portion of the dorsal fin, and on the tail fin are a number of round grey spots edged 

 with brown. When this fish attains to a considerable age, a pair of elevated tubercles 

 make their appearance, one on the forehead and another on the snout. 



THE large and important family of the Triglidee, or Gurnards, is represented by several 

 British fishes. This family contains a great number of species, many of which are most 

 remarkable, not only for their beautiful colours, which alone are sufficient to attract 

 attention, but also for the strange and wild shape, and large development of the fins. They 

 are carnivorous fish, mostly inhabiting the seas, a very few species being able to exist in 

 fresh water. They are not swift or strong swimmers, and therefore remain, for the most 

 part, in deep water. Some, however, are able, by means of their largely developed 

 pectoral fins, to raise themselves into the air, and for a brief space to sustain themselves 

 in the thinner element. The mouth is mostly large, and in some cases the gape is so wide, 

 and the head and jaws so strangely shaped, that the general aspect is most repulsive. 



