Ctenoid Acasthopteues.- 



-FISHES.- 



-Ch^todosts. 



131 



species have moderately compressed, scaly, fusiform 

 bodies, and usually a silvery stripe along the flanks. 

 The dorsals are two — the first one supported, as in the 

 Mullets, by only a few spinous raj's, not, however, 

 limited to four ; and the ventrals are situated under the 

 belly. The preraaxillaries are very protractile, and 

 tlie niaxillaries taper at their distal ends — a form which 

 prevails also in the Mugiloid family, but is unusual 

 among other Acanthoptercs. The teeth are slender 

 and sparse. The preorbitars are not serrated like tlie 

 teeth of a comb, as in the Mullets ; neither have the 

 Atherines the notch in the upper jaw, nor the corres- 

 ponding mandibular knob. The membranous siphonal 

 stomach is only a little wider than the rest of the 

 intestinal canal ; there are no pancreatic cteca ; and the 

 lining of the belly is coloured by a black pigment. The 

 air-bladder is large ; the eggs are large for the size of 

 the fish ; and the vertebraj are more than double the 

 number of those of the Mullets. 



Though the Atherines seldom exceed six or eight 

 inches in length, yet, as they swim in sculls, and are 

 easily tiiken in small-meshed nets ; they are fished in 

 quantities for sale, and are esteemed to be delicacies. 

 The young especially, called Nonnat (nouveaux ne's), in 

 France are prepared for the table by frying in a mass, 

 or by boiling in milk. The species are numerous in 

 the seas of both hemispheres. One, the Sand-smelt 

 {Atherina presbyter), is very abundant on the southern 

 coasts of England, and is procured largely in Ports- 

 mouth harbour, where it frequents tlie mouths of 

 sewers falUng into the sea. 



Family XVIII. — CHiETODONTS (Chceiodoniidcc). 

 Plate 9, fig. 45. 



Called also Sq^iamipennes, are a well-marked group, 

 composed of pretty, compressed fishes, whose vertical 

 fins are so covered witli scaly integument that the 

 membrane is mostly hidden, leaving only the spines 

 and the tips of the jointed rays visible. In profile the 

 body is generally oval, sometimes so high as to be 

 nearly orbicular ; in other instances the length and 

 obliquity of the dorsal and anal rays make the height 

 greater than the length, and the profile is more or less 

 rhomboidal. It is tiie gi'adual tliinning off of the body 

 into the scaly fins without a perceptible line of demar- 

 cation, that gives the peculiar aspect to the Cluctodonts. 

 Some of these fishes have serratures on the preoper- 

 culum ; two genera have an unusually strong spine at 

 the angle of that bone, and other members of the 

 family have spines or protuberances on the forehead ; 

 but the majority are destitute of armature on the bones 

 of the head. Very frequently some of the bones of 

 the skeleton swell into bumps; and one genus is named 

 " the Ilorseman," because the crest of the skull resem- 

 bles the helmet of a cavalry soldier. These cranial 

 bones are frequently brought to England as curiosities 

 by seamen, and are not uncommon in museums. Usu- 

 ally the head is small comparatively, the shoulder of 

 the fish sloping up high above it ; the mouth especially 

 is small ; and the teeth are brush-like, or villiform, 

 sometimes tricuspid, and in one tribe trenchant. In 

 the typical genus the teeth resemble hairs closely set 



together, as the Linnajan name of Chalodon indicates. 

 Most frequently the dorsal is perfectly single, the spines 

 graduating into the front of the soft rays, which are the 

 highest ; but occasionally there is a depression or notch 

 between the two kinds of rays. In all cases the caudal 

 is distinct from the other vortical fins. 



The beauty of the Chajtodonts, as they are seen 

 sporting among the coral rocks in the pellucid tropical 

 seas, caused Cuvior to compare them to the humming- 

 birds. 



The gener.i composing the family are — Chaitodon; CJtelmon; 

 Mefjaprotodon (Guichenot); Henlochus ; Zanchis ; Ilistiopierva 

 (Sclilegel); Ephippjis; Drepane; Scaiophag^iS ; Tuurichthys ; 

 llolocanthus ; I'omacanihus; Platax; Pseiivs; llypsinotus 

 (.Schlegel) ; Pimdepterus ;* DijMrotlon ; Tarncfes (Lowe); 

 Brinna; Nemobranui] Schedopfiihis (Cocco) or Criiis; Sco7'pis; 

 Peiiipheris; Toxutes; nophijntithns (Ilichardson), or Scarudoit 

 (Schlegel). 



One species called Ray's Sea-bream {Bravia Rail), 

 inhabits the British seas, and it is not very uncommon 

 on the coasts of Scotland, Ireland, and England. It 

 spreads even to the Norway shores, and is abundant in 

 various districts of the Mediterranean ; yet it was long 

 supposed to be very rare indeed, and has been correctly 

 described only very recentlj'. It is the Castcignollo of 

 the Genoese, and the Palometa of the Spanish fisher- 

 men, but was not named in old times so as to bo 

 recognizable now ; and the only Chffitodontoid ascer- 

 tained to be known to the ancient Greeks or Romans, 

 is the Mami, or Emperor of Japan (Hulocanthus 

 impcrator), of which jMian gives a good description 

 under the name of Citharccdus, mentioning that it is 

 an inhabitant of the Red Sea. The Ghelmons, which 

 inhabit the sea and rivers of the Indian Archipelago, 

 have long slender faces, with a small terminal mouth, 

 from which they can project a drop of water with such 

 accuracy, as to strike insects from a distance, and 

 cause them to fall into the water, so that they can 

 seize them. The Chinese of Java keep these pretty 

 fishes in vases, over which they place an insect on a 

 thread or twig, that they may see the Chelmons bring 

 it down. The Archers {Toxotes), with a much larger 

 mouth, and a fiice altogether diflerent in form, procure 

 their prey in the same dexterous manner, and are said 

 to be able, at the distance of three feet or more, to 

 knock down an insect off an aquatic plant, or from 

 the branches of a tree, by a spurt of water. The 

 Zanclus cornutns is remarkable for having a horn 

 over the eye ; and it is said that if the fishermen of 

 the Moluccas catch one, they bow the knee to it, and 

 then return it to the water. 



Family XIX.— TEUTHYOIDS {Tmthydida:). 



These fishes have compressed, oval bodies; small 

 mouths, which are not protractile, and uniscrial teeth 

 on both jaws, the palate and tongue being toothless. 

 The dorsal is single, and occupies mucli of the back ; 

 the anal also is long ; and the caudal, usually crescentic, 

 is well separated from both. The ventrals are situateil 

 under the axillas of the pectorals. In some genera 



• rimdepterus, associated witli Boridia, form Dr. Giinther'n 

 group of I'lMKLEPTKRiNA, which Uc ranks among the Sparoids. 



