216 PISCES. 



unarmed head; slightly cleft mouth, provided with small, unequal, conical 

 teeth; the spines of whose dorsal are almost always very delicate, the fin 

 itself extending- the whole length of the back. Their distinguishing char- 

 acter consists in several series of pores, similar to the lateral Hne, or, as it 

 were, in several lateral lines. They frequently have an appendage on the 

 eye-brow, as is the case with certain Blennies, but their ventrals consist of 

 five soft rays, as usual. The species known are from the sea of Kamschatka. 



FAMILY XIII. 



PECTORALES PEDICULATI. 



This family consists of certain Acanthopterygii whose carpal 

 bones are elongated so as io form a sort of arm, which supports 

 their pectorals. It comprises two genera, which are closely ap- 

 proximatedj although authors have generally placed them at a dis- 

 tance from each other, and which are closely allied to the Gobioides. 



LopHius, Lin.(l) 



The general character of this genus, independently of the semi-cartilaginous 

 skeleton and the naked skin, consists in the pectorals being supported by 

 two arms, as it were, each of which is formed of two bones that have been 

 compared to the radius and ulna, but which in reality belong to the carpus, 

 and which In this genus are longer than in any other; in the ventrals being 

 placed very far before these pectorals; in opercula and branchiostegous rays 

 enveloped in the skin, and, finally, in the only opening of the giUs being a 

 hole situated behind the said pectorals. They are voracious fishes,, which 

 survive a long time out of water, on account of the smallness of their bran- 

 chial apertures. 



L. piscatorius, L. ; Sea-Devil; Galanga, &c. (The Angler. ) A large fish, 

 of from four to five feet in length, inhabiting the seas of Europe, whose 

 hideous figure has rendered it celebrated. 



FAMILY XIV. 



LABROIDES. 



This family is easily recognized; the body is oblong and scaly; a 

 single dorsal is supported in front by spines, each of which is gene- 



(1) Lophius, a name made by Artedi, from \o<pia. (pinna), on account of 

 the crests of their head. The ancients called them ^tf.i^a.xo^, and Rana, or 

 Frog. 



