312 PIECES. 



Fistitlm-/a, Pipe-mouths, properly so called. Thfseliave only one dorsal, consisting, in great part, as well as tlie 

 anal, of simple rays. Tlieii' intermaxillaries and the lower jaw are furnished with small teetli. From between the 

 lobes of the raudal tin there arises a sort of lilament, which is sometimes as lony; as the body. The tube of the 

 muzzle is depressed; the air-bladder is exceedingly small ; and the scales on the skin are invisible. They are 

 found in the warm seas of both hemispheres. [Sailors term them Tobacco-pipe Fishes, and they are of no value, 

 except as curiosities.] 



Aulostomus. These have numerous fi-ee spines before the dorsal ; and tlieir jaws are toothless : tlieirbodyis 

 very scaly ; not so slender as in the former subgenus, but eidarged and compressed between the doi'sal and the 

 anal, whicli enlargement is follnweJ by a short and slender tail, ending in a common fin. The tube of the muzzle 

 is shorter, wider, and much mure compressed than that of the true Pi|)e Fishes ; and the alr-bladdur is larger. 

 There is but a single known sjiecies, which is a native of the Indian Ocean. 



Centriscus, or Snipe-fish. — These have the tubular muzzle characteristic of the family ; but the body 

 is oval or oblong, not lengthened, compressed laterally, and sharp on the upper part. They have only 

 two or three slender gill-rays ; a spinous first dorsal ; and small ventrals behind the pectorals. Their 

 mouth is very small, and opens obliquely: their intestine has two or three folds, but no cceca : and 

 their air-bladder is of considerable size. As in Fistularia, they admit of division into two subgenera. 



Centriscus, properly so called. These have the lirst dorsal tin backwards ; and the tirst dorsal spine, which is 

 long and strong, connected, by intermediate pieces, with the bones of the shoulder and the head. They have the 

 body covered with small scales, and some larger denticulated ones over the apparatus connected ivitb tin- spinous 

 ray of the tirst dorsal. [This ray is strong in itself, firmly supportetl, and with rugged teeth on its posterior edge, 

 capable of being moved, and thus forms a very powerful weapon. One species, C. scolopax, the Sea Snipe, 

 Sea Trumpet, or Bellows Fish of the Cornish coast, is common in the Mediterranean, and is occasionally found 

 on thesoQth coast as a straggler. The specimens met with are not large, not exceedinic tive or six inches in length. 

 The young are of a brilliant silvery lustre ; but when mature, the back is red, paler on the sides, and passing into 

 silvery, glossed with ^uhl, on the belly. All the tins are greyish white. The scales are hard and rough, granu- 

 lated on the surface, and beautifully ciliated on the posterior edge. Its flesh is considered good. Its haunts are 

 understood to be muddy bottoms, in mudei'ately deep water ; and its I'oud the minute Crustacea with which such 

 places usually abound] 



Amphisile, has the back mailed with large scaly pieces, of which the anterior spine of the lirst dorsal appears to 

 be a continuation. Some have other scaly pieces on the flanks, and the spine in cpaestion placed so far behind 

 that it is against the base of the tail ; against which it, as it were, thrusts the second dorsal and the anal; this 

 is C. scutatus. Others are intermediate between this form and that of the ordinary Centriscus, or have the mail 

 plates covering only a part of the back; such is C velitaris. All the known species are inhabitants of the 

 Indian seas. 



THE SECOND ORDER OF BONY FISHES. 



MALACOPTERYGII AUDOMINALES. 



The second division of the Ordinary Fishes, [(jr fishes uith bones in tlie skeleton,] the 

 Molitcnii/pnjf/ii, or Jointud-fin Fishes, consists of three orilers, the distinguisliinn chiiraetcr 

 of eacli of ivhicli is the ]>osition or absence of the ventral tins. 



The |jreseut Older eoin[irises fishes ivliich have tlie ventral fins snspended to the ahdomen, 

 behind the pectorals, without being attached to the bones of the shoulder; they are the most 

 numerous order of the division, and incliule the greater part of fresh-ivater fishes. They are 

 divulcd into five I'ainilics. 



THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE MALACOPTERYGII ABDOMINALES. 

 Cyprinid.e (the Carp Family). 

 These liave tlic month shallow, the jaws feehle, very often without teeth, and (lie marc^iii formed 

 by the oiilcr inuxillarics ; bat tbey have the jiljaryiLX strongly toothed, which cumpeiisatcs for the feeble 

 armature of the jaws. Tliey liave few gill-rays ; their body is scaly ; and they have no adipose 

 dorsal, as we shall find in the SUnrcs and Salmon. The stomach has no cul-de-sac or creeal appen- 

 dages ; and they arc the least carnivurous of all fishes. [The genera and siiligcnera are arranged as 

 follows :] — 



