668 Pareioplite, or Mailed-cheek Fishes 
alata, a red fish with a peculiar bony, forked snout, is common 
in Japan. The American species of gurnards, having teeth 
on the palatine, belong to the genus Prionotus. Northward 
these fishes, known as sea-robins, live along the shores in 
Fie. 579 —Flying Gurnard, Cephalacanthus volitans (L.). Virginia. 
shallow water. In the tropics they descend to deeper water, 
assuming a red color. Prionotus carolinus is the commonest 
species in New England. Prionotus strigatus, the striped sea- 
robin, and Prionotus tribulus, the rough-headed sea-robin, are 
common species along the Carolina coast. None has much 
value as food, being dry and bony. Numerous fossil species 
Fie. 580.—Peristedion miniatum Goode & Bean. Depths of the Gulf Stream. 
referred to Trigla are found in the Miocene. Podopteryx, from 
the Italian Miocene, with small pectorals and very large ven- 
trals, perhaps belongs also to this family, but its real affinities 
are unknown. 
The Peristediide.— The Peristediide are deep-water sea- 
robins, much depressed, with flat heads, a bony coat of mail, 
