THE BANDED MULLET. 



2 35 



When following floating timbers, it is a remarkably bold fish. Mr. Couch remarks thus 

 upon its habits : " When a piece of timber, covered with barnacles, is brought by the 

 currents from the more southern regions which these fishes inhabit, considerable numbers 

 of them sometimes accompany it. In the alacrity of their exertions, they pass over the 

 wreck in pursuit of each other, and sometimes for a short space are left dry on the top, 

 until a succeeding wave bears them off again. From the circumstance of their being 

 usually found near floating wood covered with barnacles, it might be supposed that this 

 shell-fish forms their food ; but this does not appear to be the case, since, in many that 

 were opened, nothing was found but small fishes. Perhaps the young fishes follow the 

 floating wood for the sake of the insects that accompany it, and thus draw the Stone 

 Basse after them." 



The color of the Stone Basse is dark purple-brown above, and silvery white below. 

 The fin-membranes are brown, and the tail is tipped with white. When young, it is 

 mottled with darker and lighter brown. The lower jaw is larger than the upper, and 

 over the operculum runs horizontally a bold bony ridge, ending in a sharp point directed 

 backwards. There is also a row of short sharp spines over the eye, and the first 

 ray of the ventral fins and the first three rays of the anal fin are furnished with strong 

 thorny spines, so that the fish is armed at all points, and when struggling violently is 

 likely to inflict rather severe wounds on the hand that grasps it incautiously. 



PASSING by many large genera, which 

 cannot be noticed for lack of space, we 

 come to a very odd-looking fish, called per- 

 force, for want of a popular title, the 

 OREOSOMA, a name framed from two Greek 

 words, and literally signifying hilly-bodied. 

 As the reader may see by reference to the 

 engraving, the name is very appropriate. 

 The upper figure shows its aspect from 

 below. 



This remarkable little fish was captured 

 in the Atlantic by Peron, and has ever 

 been esteemed as one of the curiosities of 

 the animal kingdom. Upon the body there 

 are no true scales, but their place is sup- 

 plied by a number of bony or horny pro- 

 tuberances, of a conical shape, and serving 

 no ascertained purpose. These cones may ' 

 be divided into two distinct sets, the larger 

 set being arranged in two ranks, four on 

 the back and ten on the abdomen, and 

 among them are placed the smaller set. 

 The body of this fish is very deep in pro- 

 portion to its length, and the operculum 

 has two ridges, terminating in flattened 

 angles. There are two dorsal fins, the first 

 armed with five spines. 



BEFORE leaving this family we must briefly examine another very large genus, here 

 represented by the BANDED MULLET (Apbgon fasciatus). 



This fish is found off the Feejee Islands, upon the coast of Mozambique, and in the 

 Australian and Moluccan seas. The genus to which it belongs comprises about sixty 

 species, all inhabiting the warmer waters, and some entering the mouths of rivers. They 

 are most plentiful in the Indian and Australian seas, but are never seen in the colder 

 waters of the northern and southern regions. The scales of these fish are large, and fall 

 off almost at a touch. The gill cover is rather formidably armed, the operculum bear- 

 ing spines, and the prasoperculum having a double-notched ridge. 



OREOSOMA. Oreosoma Atiaatlcuta. 



