304 



PISCES. 



.-//. 



iihas, till- Clinil'iii:;" Pcrcli 



1 l\ HI llf t tl I M I 



>r Iii.li: 



Tlii; 



I 



(■•mis lias the labyrinths highly complicated ; the third pharynj^i 

 I til i laniuni; the body is round in the section, and covered with 

 stronj^ scales; the head is larf^e, the muzzle short 

 ami )ilunt, and the mouth smaH ; their lateral line 

 is ijitcrrupted for the posterior third ; the margins 

 of the operculum, super- operculum, and inter- 

 opcrcuUnn, are stron^^y toothed, but there are 

 nu trcih in till.' ]ire-oiK'rculLun ; their gills have 

 f\s'' riiys; tlify ha\e many spinous rayy in the 

 dorsal and anal; and their stomach isofmiJdie 

 size, rounded, and \^ith three ccecular appendages 

 J jjj _\,i,,i,„ to the pyrolus. Only one species is known, which 



not only quits the water, and moves over banks, 

 but is said by Thildorf to (-limb luislii.-s and trees, by moans of its dorsals and the spines on the gilldids ; but 

 others dispute the latter power. This species is very common in India. 



Pohiacanthits, has the spinous rays as numerous as the last p;enns, or even more so; and the same mouth, scales, 

 and interrupted lateral line, but the gill-lid is ntit tnotherl ; the body is compressed ; there are four rays in the 

 gills, a narrow band of small crowded teeth in the jaw >, but no palatal teeth; the labyrinths are less compUcated, 

 and the pyrolus has cmly two coecular appendages. 



Macropodus, differs from the last in having the dorsal less extended, and that in the caudal and venti'al ending 

 ill slender points ; the anal is also larger than the dorsal. 



Hesostoma, have a small compressed mouth, so protractile as to advance from and retreat to the suborbitals ; 

 they have small teeth on the lips, and some on the jaws of the palate ; tive gill-rays, on the arches of which, to- 

 wards the mouth, there are lamella? resembling the external ones ; the stomach is smaU, and has only t\iO )iyrolic 

 cosca, but their intestine is long; the air-bladder is very stout. 



OspJ>romonirs [so called from a conjecture, apparently erroneous, that the labyrinths of the pharynx are organs 

 of smell], resembles Polyacanthus, but has the forehead concave ; the anal longer than the dorsal ; the suboidjitals, 

 and inferior edge of the pre-operculum, finely toothed ; the tirst soft ray of the ventrals very long ; six gill-rays ; 

 the body much compressed. (.)ne species, O. alfax, grows as large as a turbot, and is considered more delicious. 

 It has been introduced into ponds in the Isle of France and Cayenne, where it thrives welt. The female, as in 

 many other species of fish, digs a cavity in the sand for tlir rei-eption of her eggs. 



Tr/V/i!Oji:)orf«^, has the forehead more con\ex thini ilie la^t, a shorter dorsal, and only four gill-rays. Tlie only 

 known species is a small fish from the Oriental Isles, of a brownish colour, with a dark spot on the side. 



Spirobranchus, resembles Anabas, but has no teeth on the gill-lids, but teeth in the palate. The only known 

 species is a minute fish of Southern Africa. 



Ophiccphalus, like the rest of the family in most of it.^ cliaractiTs, (■■^pnially in the pharyngi-al labyrinth, and 

 can creep for some distance over land; but it diti'ers from all otlier Acantliui.iteiygii in having no sjiines in the 

 fins, except a short one on the first of the ventrals. The body is long, and nearly cylindrical ; the head flat, and 

 covered with polygonal plates ; the dorsal extends nearly the whole length ; the anal is also long, and the caudal 

 round it ; tlu^y Inive li\'e giil-rays ; the stomach is obtuse, with inridrr;il(_ly long cceca ; and the abdominal ca^-ity 

 extends nearly tu the base of the caudal. They are found in IihIm and (.'hina, of various species, and diflerent 

 sizes. In the furnicr country, the jugglrrs, imd even Ww rhildrdi, ann.ise themselves by making it crawl along 

 upon tlry grumid ; and in <!.lliiiia, tlie largei- ones are cut o]i ali\e \<<\- >al(.- in the mai-kets. 



[All the genera and species of this family arc frcsli-wator fishes ; and they have not liithcrto liecii 

 found except in the south-east of Asia and the adjacent islands, and in Southern Africa.] 



TIID ELEVENTH FAMILY OF THE ACANTllOPTERYGIL 

 MuGiLiD-i: (tin; ^fuLT.ET Faniily). 



This family consists (d the fullnwing three gcncni :— 



Miigil, the Mnllct, prop) riy so called, [wliieli must not, however, be confounded with the Red 

 Mullets, either iilain or stripeil, which ar<' included in the rercli family]. Their organi/.atiMu lias so 

 many peculiarities that they migld he formed into a separate family. Their body is nearly cylindrical, 

 covered with large scales, two separate dorsals with only fnur spinous rays in llie first, ap.d the \rnirals 

 are a little in rear of the pectorals. Their head is a little depressed, covered with large an'^ular scalv 

 ))1at(.'s ; their muzzle is short ; their form is an angle, in consequence of a prominence at the middle of 

 the lower jaw; and their teeth are veiy small, and in some almost imperceptible. Thev have six 

 gill-rays ; the bones of the pharynx give an angular form to the gullet ; their stomach terminates in a 

 lleshy gizzard, resembling that of a bird; they have few ccccal appendages, Imt the iutcstinal canal is 

 long and doubled. They are gregarious,' resorting to the mouths of rivers in large trdOj.s. am] cnn- 

 stantly leaping up (.mt of the water. [Tliey feed in part U[Min small Cralis and other Crustacea which 



