524 FISHES. 



FiEST Family — Pomacenteid^. 



Body short, compressed, covered with ctenoid scales. Den- 

 tition feeble ; palate smooth. The lateral line does not extend 

 to the caudal fin, or is interrupted. One dorsal fin, with the 

 spinous portion as well developed as the soft, or more. Two, 

 sometimes three, anal spines; the soft anal similar to the soft 

 dorsal. Ventral fins thoracic, with one spine and five soft rays. 

 Gills three and a half ; pseudohranchice and air-bladder pre- 

 sent. Vertebrce, twelve abdominal and fourteen caudal. 



The fishes of this family are marine ; they resemble the 

 Chffitodonts with regard to their mode of life, living chiefly in 

 the neighbourhood of coral formations. Lilce them they are 

 beautifully coloured, the same patterns being sometimes 

 reproduced in members of both families, proving that the 



Fig. 2i0. — Dascyllus aruanus. Natural size, from the Indo-Pacifio. 



development and distribution of colours is due to the agencies 

 of climate, of the surroundings and of the habits of animals. 

 The geographical range of the Pomacentridce is co-extensive 

 with that of the Chsetodonts, the species betag most numer- 

 ous in the Indo-Pacific and Tropical Atlantic, a few extend- 

 ing northwards to the Mediterranean and Japan, southwards 



