362 SPINY-FINNED GROUP. 



shortly before dawn (the untimely hour chosen by the fish for self -destruction), 



and keeping a sharp look-out in the surf for the silver streak which betokens the 



advent of the frost-fish. When a fish is seen struggling in the waves or on 



the sand, all that remains to be done is to catch hold of it, and drag it up out of 



reach of the backwash (if it does not wriggle up by its own motion), and there 



despatch it with a stick or knife." 



These scaleless fish (Trichiurus) take their name from the 



absence of a caudal fin, the body tapering posteriorly into a fine 



point. The single dorsal extends the whole length of the ribbon-like body; 



the pelvic fins are represented merely by a pair of scales, or are completely 



wanting; and the anal is rudimental, its spinous portion being reduced to a 



number of very small spines scarcely projecting above the skin. The jaws are 



provided with long tusks, and there are teeth on the palatine bones, although 



none on the vomer. Essentially tropical fishes, generally found in the vicinity 



of land, they appear to be sometimes carried by currents out to sea, which will 



probably account for the occasional appearance of the West Indian T, lepturus on 



the British coasts. These fishes attain a length of from 3 to 4 feet ; and one of 



the Indian species is described as extremely voracious, preying on crustaceans and 



various fishes, among which members of its own kind are included. 



The local name for a New Zealand representative (Thyrsites 

 Barracudas. . . , ... « ». > 



atun) of another genus may be taken as the popular title of all its 



members. These fishes, in which the rather elongate body is covered with minute 

 scales, are characterised by having from two to six finlets behind the dorsal and 

 anal, and the presence of teeth on the palatines. Barracudas, which grow to as 

 much as 5 feet, form important food supplies in the Cape, South Australia, New 

 Zealand, and Chili ; when the flesh has been dried or otherwise preserved, it is 

 exported from New Zealand in quantities to Mauritius and Batavia. The genus 

 is unknown in the Indian seas, where the family is represented by the hair-tails. 

 Allied Extinct Two extinct genera, namely, Palceorhynchus from the Eocene of 



Forms. Switzerland, and Hemirhynchus from the Oligocene of France, re- 

 present a separate family (Palceorhynchidw), distinguished from the last by the 

 production of the muzzle into a long beak, which may be either provided with 

 small teeth, or toothless. The dorsal fin occupies nearly the whole length of the 

 compressed body ; and the anal fin is also elongated, and extends nearly to 

 the forked caudal. 



The Surgeons, — Family Acronurid& 



With this family we come to a group of spiny-finned fishes, including some 

 thirteen others, which present the following characteristics in common. The dorsal 

 fins are either placed together or continuous, the spinous portion being, when fully 

 developed, shorter than the soft part, while it may be modified into tentacles, 

 detached spines, or an adhesive disc ; and the anal is similar in characters to the 

 soft dorsal, and in some instances both these fins are modified posteriorly into 

 finlets. The pelvic fins, if developed, are always thoracic or jugular in position, 

 and are never modified into a sucker ; and there are no papilla? in the neighbour- 

 hood of the vent. Nearly the whole of the members of the group are marine. 



