266 PISCES. 



illaries shorter j pedicles of the intermaxillaries longer; the dor- 

 sal commencing opposite to the middle of the pectorals; the 

 body thicker in proportion. 



Both species are common along the "whole coast of France; 

 from eight to ten inches long, and of a silver-grey colour. They 

 are esteemed as food, and are also used for bait. 



ORDER V. 



LOPHOBRANCHII. 



All the fishes of which we have hitherto spoken, have not 

 only a bony or fibrous skeleton, and complete and free javvs^ 

 but their branchisc are uniformly composed of lamina, or are 

 pectiniform. In this order, however, we likewise find the 

 jaws free and complete; but it is eminently distinguished by 

 the gills, which instead of resembling, as usual, the teeth of a 

 comb, are divided into small round tufts, arranged in pairs 

 along the branchial arches, a structure of which no other fishes 

 present any example. They are enclosed beneath a large oper- 

 culum, tied down on all sides by a membrane which leaves 

 only a single smaU orifice for the exit of the water, and exhi- 

 biting in its thickness only vestiges of rays. These fishes are 

 also recognized by the scutellated plates of mail which cover 

 their body, and usually render it angular. They are generally 

 small, and almost without flesh. Their intestine is equal, and 

 without cseca, and their natatory bladder thin, but proportion - 

 ably large. 



Syngnathus, Lin.(l) 



The Syngnathi constitute a numerous genus characterized by a 

 tubular snout, formed, like that of the Fislularidse, by the prolonga- 



(1) From c-jv and yvd^-of (united jaws', a name composed by Artedi, who 

 thouglit that the tube of the snout of these fishes was formed by the union of 

 their jaws. 



