FISHES. 237 



not quit the sheltering cavity till they are about four inches long, and sufficiently 

 active and nimble to escape their nurnerous enemies." 



Another species of Tilapia (7\ tiberiadis), abundant in the lake or "sea of 

 Galilee," is worthy of mention for its bearing on the miraculous draught of fishes 

 recorded in the Scriptures. The notes on the abundance of the species by Canon 

 Tristram are well worthy of reproduction. 



" This fish, peculiar to the Jordan and its aflluents alone, is found in the most amaz- 

 ing numbers from the lake Huleh to the head of the Dead Sea. It is by far the most 

 abundant of all the species in the lakes. I have seen them in shoals of over an acre 

 in extent, so closely packed that it seemed impossible for them to move, and with 

 their dorsal fins above the water, giving at a distance the appearance of a tremendous 

 shower pattering on one spot of the surface of the glassy lake. They are taken both 

 in boats and from the shore by nets run deftly round, and enclosing what one may 

 call a solid mass at one swoop, and very often the net breaks. They are also taken 

 in large quantities by poisoned crumbs thrown from the shore on to the surface of the 

 water. By casting-nets hundreds are often taken at once. 



"This species especially is carried down at the mouth of the Jordan by thousands 

 into the Dead Sea. The fishes never get further than a few yards, when they 

 become stupefied, and soon turn over on to their backs, while cormorants and king- 

 fishers, perched on the snags or floating logs, gorge themselves without effort, and 

 often heaps of putrifying carcasses washed on the shore poison the atmosphere, and 

 afford a plenteous feast to the ravens and vultures." 



One species of the family enters into the southwestern portion of the Union. 

 It belongs to the genus Heros, which likewise resembles a suii-fish superficially ; the 

 teeth are conical and in a band on both jaws ; the dorsal fin has fifteen to eighteen 

 spines, and the anal five to nine. This genus has about forty species, and is the pre- 

 dominant one of the family in the rivers and lakes of tropical America. The only 

 one, however, that occurs within the limits of the United States is Heros cyanogut- 

 tatus ; it lives in the fresh waters of Texas. 



Closely related to the Cichlidse, but inhabitants of the salt water, are numerous 

 tropical fishes, constituting a peculiar family — ^the Pomacentkid^. Most of them 

 are decorated with brilliant colors, and are of small size, rarely exceeding a few inches 

 in length. One of the largest as well as northernmost of the family is a species occur- 

 ring along the southern Californian coast, and known as the gold-fish, red-perch, and 

 Garibaldi — the Ilypsypops riMcundus. When adult it is of a nearly uniform deep 

 crimson or orange. It often becomes a foot long, and attains a weight of about three 

 pounds. It is, however, of. little value, as it is not esteemed for the table. 



The most important and widely dispersed of the Pharyngognathous families is the 

 Labeid^. These are mostly of an oblong form, with the scales smooth and generally 

 large, and often long and pointed on the tail, but in the northern forms they are small ; 

 the lateral line is generally interrupted, or abrup)tly bent behind ; the head varies ; the 

 nostrils are double ; the teeth conic, or rarely compressed, and not imbricated ; the 

 dorsal is single, with a long sj)inous and shorter soft portion ; the anal has three or 

 (rarely) more spines. The upper pharyngeal bones are distinct. The species are very 

 numerous, nearly four hundred having been described. They are most abundant and 

 diversified in the Indo-Pacific seas, and are very prominent there by their diversity and 

 often singularity of form and gay colors. The northern species are distinguished by 

 their small scales and the increased number of dorsal sj^ines, as well as of vertebrsie. 



