ns 



PlIAKYSGOGNATIIS.- 



-FISHES.- 



-Cyclolabroids. 



West Indies ; and in Barbadoes they constitute an 

 important part of tlio negro diet. Two thousand people 

 of tliat island are estimated to live by the fisheries, and 

 at Bridgetown tifty boats may be seen coming in of a 

 morning, each, when fully charged, carrying three tons 

 of fish. The fishery is carried on at some distance 

 from the shore, during the night, with hoop nets baited 

 with pounded fish. The Flying-fish are gutted and 

 cleaned as they are caught. Thus prepared they keep 

 over the day, having in that respect the advantage 

 over most of the fish of the Caribbean seas. Some 

 method of preserving the freshness and firmness of 

 fish caught near the equator, and keeping them from 

 becoming tainted before they can take the salt, is 

 needed, before the very productive fisheries of hot cli- 

 mates can be of tlie economic value to which they 

 miglit be raised. Weak sulphureous or pyroligueous 

 acids might, j)erhaps, be used to advantage ; and the 

 skill of chemists could not be better directed than in 

 seeking for some cheaper and more ofi'ectivo material. 

 So much has been written eloquently on the flight of 

 flying-fish by the lamented Humboldt, and other scien- 

 tific voyagers, that we shall not enter on the subject 

 here. 



Family II.— CIIROMIDANS {Chromidlda:). 



The Chronddcs of Miiller have an interrupted lateral 

 line, villiform teeth, a single dorsal, and only one nos- 

 tril or opening to each pituitary sac. They are short, 

 moderately compressed, symmetrical fishes, with large 

 ctenoid scales, spinous rays in front of the dorsal and 

 anal, and scaly integument enveloping the bases of 

 these fins. The ventrals have a spine in front of the 

 five soft rays, and are situated behind the pectorals. 

 The stomach is ca?cal, and the pancreatic cffica are 

 few in number. The family belongs to the sub-order 

 of Acanthopterygian Pharyngognaths, and is made up 

 of the following genera : — 



Chromis, inhabiting the Nile ; Sarotheroden (Riippcll), fre- 

 quenting the Biglit of Benin ; and Acara, Chtclobraiuhus, 

 Ci-eiiici/clila, Gcn/i/i(igus, Ileros, all Brazilian genera, described 

 by Meckel ; also Ci/cla (Blocb) from Surinam. 



The Bolti (Chromis nilotica) is said to be the best 

 fish in the Nile. It is compressed, with a sub-orbicular 

 profile. A Crenkychla of the fresh waters of the island 

 of Trinidad is known locally by the name of Le Brochet 

 or Pike. Hallrjenes, is a chromidan genus recently 

 characterized by Dr. Gunther. 



Family III.— CTENOLABROIDS (Plate 5, fig. 26). 



Tliis family, named by some Pumacentridcc, is com- 

 posed of oval or oblong fishes, with the head forming 

 part of the general elliptic profile. The scales are 

 large and ctenoid, and the general aspect is neat, conr- 

 pact, and peculiar, so that the family is readily recog- 

 nizable by tliose who have seen a few species. The 

 dorsal and anal are placed on tlie posterior curves of 

 the oval profile, and are supported in front by spinous 

 rays. The naked part of the tail intervening between 

 the three vertical fins is short and moderately high. 

 There is only a single nostril to each pituitary sac, as 



in the Chromidans, and the closed air-bladder is with- 

 out appendages. The ovisac opens externally by a 

 tube that issues behind the vent. There are no caverns 

 in the outer walls of the cranium, as in the Sciajnoids ; 

 between which and the Ctenolabroids there is some 

 resemblance in form. 



The genera arc — Coprodon (Seblegel) ; Amphiprion; Prem- 

 lias; PomacetUnis ; Prlstotls (KUppell); Da^cfjllus ; Glyphtao- 

 dun ; Eirophis ; and Jlcliuses. 



They are inhabitants of the warmer districts of the 

 ocean, are of small size, do not assemble in sculls, and 

 are not the objects of any special fishery. 



Family IV.— CYCLOLABROIDS {Ci/clokd>ridic). 

 Plate 6, figs. 27, 28. 



In this family cycloid scales are associated with sjiin 

 ous (in-rays, a combination which iiupairs the exactness 

 of the distinctive characters which Agassiz had at first 

 assigned to his ctenoid and cycloid orders. Systemat- 

 ists have always met with similar impediments to their 

 grouping animals by one or two peouharities of struc- 

 ture. The members of tlie family are more or less 

 compressed scaly fishes, with an oval, elliptical, or 

 oblong profile, and generally with a parallel-sided naked 

 part of the tail intervening between the vertical fins. 

 The ventrals are thoracic, with one spine and five 

 branching rays. The dorsal is single, with anterior 

 spinous rays, which have frequently membranous pro- 

 cesses behind their tips; and there is always a distinct 

 well-developed caudal. The lateral line is either con- 

 tinuous or interrupted. The jaws are covered by fleshy 

 lips, and their dentition varies with the genera, being 

 villil'orm, or subulate, or conical, and in one group incor- 

 porated witli the bones so as to form horseshoe-shaped 

 jaws, which have been compared to the bill of a parrot. 

 The palate is smooth, without teeth, and there is one 

 pharyngeal bone below and two above, which are armed 

 sometimes with cylindrical teeth having flat cusps, 

 sometimes with lamellated plates, sometimes with flat 

 teeth simulating mosaic, and sometimes the pharyngeal 

 teeth are card-like. The air-bladder is simple and 

 closed, as in the rest of the order. There are no pan- 

 creatic coeca, and the eggs are discharged through a 

 tube which opens behind the vent. 



The genera are — Lahnts; Cosai/phvs; Crenihihvus ; Cteno- 

 lah'us; Acantliohbrus ; Coricus ; Clepticus ; Lachnohimus ; 

 TatUof/a; Kojilarchits (^Ka'fp) ; Malacanthis ; Cheilio; Malaj)- 

 tents; Julis; Chterops (Riippell); Anampses ; Gomphosus; 

 XyrichtJnjs; Novacula ; ChcUin-us; Cirrkilabrus (Schlegel) ; 

 Epibulus; Scants; CuUt/odon; and Odtix. 



In Xijridithys and Novacida some of the front rays 

 of the dorsal are detached forwards, forming, as it were, 

 two dorsals. The British species are the Wrasse- 

 conner [Lahrus herrjylta) ; the Comber Wrasse (Labnis 

 comber); the Cook or Red Wrasse {Lahrus mixtus); the 

 Corkv/mg {Crenilahnis mclops)\ the Corkling (Ccch/- 

 lalrus jjusdbis); Goldfinny {Cicnolabrusrupcstris); the 

 Scale-rayed Wrasse {Acantholabriis couchii); the Sea- 

 wife [Acantltolahrus yarreUli) ; the Kock-cook [Acan- 

 tholalrus exoUtus) ; and the Rainbow AVrasse {Julis 

 Mediterranea) . Some of these species are plentiful 



