Class IV. GEMMEOUS DRAGONET. 223 



it breathes, and also forces out the water it 

 takes in at the mouth, in the same manner as 

 the cetaceous fishes. The apertures to the 

 gills are closed ; on the end of the bones that 

 cover them is a very singular trifurcated spine. 

 The eyes are large, and placed very near each 

 other on the upper part of the head, so that they 

 look upwards ; for which reason it has been 

 ranked among the Uranoscopi ; the pupils are 

 of a rich sappharine blue, the irides of a fine 

 fiery carbuncle ; the upper jaw projects much 

 farther than the lower ; the mouth is very wide ; 

 the teeth are small ; the pectoral fins are round, 

 and of a light-brown color ; the ventral placed 

 before them, are very broad, and consist of five 

 branched rays. The first dorsal fin is very 

 singular, the first ray being setaceous, and so 

 long as to extend almost to the tail ; those of 

 the second dorsal fins are of a moderate length, 

 except the last, which is produced far beyond 

 the others. The anus is placed about the mid- 

 dle of the belly ; the anal fin is broad, and the 

 last ray the longest. Pont oppidan calls this 

 species the flying fish ; whether it makes use of 

 any of its fins to raise itself out of the water, as 

 he was informed it did, we cannot pretend to 

 say. The tail is rounded and long, and consists 

 of ten rays. The side line is strait ; the colors 



