3 86 



SPINY-FINNED GROUP. 



Dragon-Fishes. 



known is D. volitans, which may be commonly met with in the Mediterranean. 

 Very similar in their habits to the true flying-fish, the flying gurnards are more 

 heavily built, and measure as much as 18 inches in length. 



In this place may be noticed the curious little dragon-fishes 

 (Pegasus), from the Indian, Chinese, and Australian seas, which 

 although referred by Dr. Giinther to a distinct family are included by Day in 

 the present one. In these strange little fishes the broad and depressed body is 



covered with bony 



plates, which are 

 movable, although 

 those investing the 

 tail are firmly 

 welded together. 

 The narrow gill- 

 opening is situated 

 in front of the 

 pectoral fin ; the 

 gill-cover is formed 

 of a single plate, 

 and the gills them- 

 selves are four in 

 number. The single 

 short dorsal fin is 

 placed opposite an 

 anal of similar 



AUSTRALIAN DRAGON-FISH (nat. size). 



size ; the pectorals are long, horizontal, and composed of simple rays, some of which 

 may be spinous ; and the pelvis comprises one or two rays, the outer one being 

 elongated. Both teeth and an air-bladder are wanting. The figured species 

 (P. natans) is an Australian one, and is less well known than the Indian P. draco 

 and the Chinese P. volens; dried specimens of the latter being familiar objects 

 on Chinese insect-boxes. Nothing seems to have been ascertained as to the habits 

 of these fish, although it has been suggested that they probably frequent sandy 

 shores. With this family we take leave of the great Cotta-Scombriform section, 

 as it is called, and pass on to another containing only two or three families. 



The Lump-Suckers, — Family Cyclopterid^:. 



With the lump-suckers we come to a small section characterised by the 

 spinous dorsal fin being short, and either composed of flexible spines, or much 

 less developed than the soft dorsal, or soft portion of the same ; the soft dorsal 

 being equal in extent to the anal. If present, the pelvic fins are either thoracic 

 or jugular in position, with one spine, and generally five (rarely four) soft rays. 

 There is a prominent papilla in the neighbourhood of the vent. In no case is 

 there a bony stay to the preopercular from the infraorbital ring. As a family, 

 the lump-suckers are characterised by the thick or oblong body, which may be 

 either naked or tuberculated ; the small teeth ; and the presence of a circular 



