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CHAPTER XXI. 
V.—TELEOSTEA, OR Bony FIsHEs. 
In this large order are many of the fishes which are most familiar 
to us. It is characterised, as we have said elsewhere, as a group of 
animals having a solid skeleton. It is divided into six sub-orders ; 
these are: 1. Plectognatha. 2. Lophobranchia. 3. Pharyngognatha. 
4. Physostomata. 5. Anacanthina. 6. Acanthopterygea. All these 
orders contain more or less familiar forms ; the first, contains the great 
sun-fish, the globe-fish, and coffin-fish ; the second, the pipe-fish and 
sea-horses ; the third, the flying-fish and the wrasser; the fourth, the 
eels, herrings, salmon, carp, &c.; the fifth, the cod tribe and the 
flat-fish ; and the sixth, the mullets, tunnies, gobies, perch, stickle- 
backs, and many others. 
I.—PLECTOGNATHA. 
From their organisation the fishes of this order seem to. establish 
the passage from the cartilaginous to the osseous fishes. Their skeleton 
remains in a partly unossified condition. The bones of the head are, 
however, perfectly solid. The cranial and maxillary bones are firmly 
attached to the sides of the intermaxillary bones, and so form the 
jaw ; the bones of the palate are united to the skull in such a manner 
as to be motionless. The opercula and rays of the gills are hidden 
under a thick skin, which leaves externally only small branchial slits. 
These fishes have no true ventral fin, and the pectoral fins are small 
and soft. 
This sub-order comprehends two natural families, characterised 
by the armature of their jaws. They are the Gymmnodonta and the 
Sclerodermata. 
In the family of Gymnodonta the jaws have no apparent teeth, 
but they are covered with a plate of an ivory-like substance which 
represents them. The Sun-fish, Orthagoriscus mola (Fig. 365), 
belongs to this family. 
The Sun-fish (Orthagoriscus mola), Fig. 365, greatly reduced in 
