76 FISH GALLERY. 



[Case 14.] to tbe pubic bone, and composed of a spine and a small ray. The 

 spines of tbe anterior dorsal are isolated. Three species are common 

 in the British Isles, and are very remarkable for the elegant nests 

 they construct. The three-spined and ten-spined Sticklebacks 

 (Gastrosteus aculeatus and pungitius] are inhabitants of the 

 fresh and brackish waters ; the larger, or fifteen -spined, species 

 (G. spinachia) is marine, and abundant in brackish water. 



The Fistularuda, or Flute-mouths (Case 14), are gigantic marine 

 Sticklebacks, living near the shore. They are distributed over 

 the whole of the tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic and 

 Indo-Pacific. The species are few in number. 



Order II. PHARYNGOGNATHI. 



Acanthopterygians with the lower pharyngeal bones coalescent. 

 They are divided into four families : 1. Pomacentridts. 2. La- 

 brides. 3. Embioiocida. 4. Chromides. 



Fi<r. 61. 



Separate upper and united lower pharyngeal bones of Labrus maculatus. 



The Pomacentrida are small marine fishes, resembling the 

 Chsetodonts with regard to their geographical distribution, mode 

 of life, and coloration. 



The Labrida, or Wrasses (Cases 14, 15), are a large family of 

 littoral fishes, very abundant in the temperate and tropical zones, 

 but becoming scarcer towards the Arctic and Antarctic circles, where 

 they disappear entirely. Many of them are readily recognized by 



