468 Berycoidei 
and Plectromus. In Caulolepis the jaws are armed with very 
strong canines. 
Allied to the Trachichthyide are also the fossil genera Hop- 
lopteryx and Homonotus. Hoplopteryx lewesiensis, from the 
English chalk, is one of the earliest of the spiny-rayed fishes. 
The Soldier-fishes: Holocentridez.— The soldier-fishes (Holo- 
centridg), also known as squirrel-fishes, Welshmen, soldados, 
matajuelos, malau, alehi, etc., are shore fishes very characteristic 
Fig. 370.—Paratrachichthys prosthemius Jordan & Fowler, Misaki, Japan. Family 
Trachichthyide. 
of rocky banks in the tropical seas. In this family the flesh 
is firm and the large scales very hard and with very rough 
edges. There are eleven spines in the dorsal and four in the 
anal, the third being usually very long. The ventral fins have 
one spine and seven soft rays. The whole head and body are 
rough with prickles. The coloration is always brilliant, the 
ground hue being scarlet or crimson, often with lines or stripes 
of white, black, or golden. The fishes are valued as food, and 
they furnish a large part of the beauty of coloration so charac- 
teristic of the fishes of the coral reefs. The species are active, 
pugnacious, carnivorous, but not especially voracious, the 
mouth being usually small. : 
The genus Holocentrus is characterized by the presence of 
a large spine on the angle of the preopercle. Its species are 
