PERCESOCES 



639 



Fam. 2. Ammodytidae.^ — Maxillary excluded from the 

 border of the upper jaw ; mouth protractile ; dentition feeble or 

 absent. Lower pharyngeal bones separate. Praecaudal vertebrae 

 without parapophyses. Body covered with very small cycloid scales. 

 Pectoral fins nearer the ventral than the dorsal line ; ventral 

 fins, if present, widely separated from the pectorals, without spine, 

 with 6 rays. Dorsal and anal fins more or less elongate, formed 

 of soft rays. Air-bladder absent. 



The existing genera, Atrimodytes, with 8 species, from the 

 temperate coasts of the northern hemisphere, and Hypoptychus, 

 from northern Japan, with a single species, are deprived of 

 ventral fins, and their exact relations remained obscure until the 

 structure of the Oligocene Cobitojosis revealed their affinity to the 

 Scomhresocidae, or at least their pertinence to the present sub- 

 order. The Greater Sand-Eel or Launce {Ammodytes lanceolatus) 

 and the Lesser Sand-Eel (A. tohianus) are common on our coasts, 

 and are remarkable for the manner in which, by means of their 

 sharp-pointed snout, they bury themselves with great rapidity in 

 the sand, darting in and out like arrows. 



Pig. 390. — CoUtopsis acuta. (Restoration by A. S. Woodward.) 



Fam. 3. Atherinidae. — Maxillary excluded from the border 

 of the upper jaw ; dentition more or less developed. Body 

 covered with cycloid or ctenoid scales. Eibs attached to strong 

 parapophyses. Pectoral fins inserted high up ; ventral fins more 

 or less approximated to the pectorals, with one spine and five soft 

 rays ; pelvic bones connected with the clavicular symphysis by a 

 ligament. Two well-separated dorsal fins, the anterior small and 

 formed, at least in part, of spinous rays. Air-bladder present. 



Carnivorous Fishes, mostly marine and of small size, much 

 valued as food, and distributed along the coasts of most tropical 

 and temperate seas ; some inhabit fresh waters. A silvery lateral 

 band, or "stole," is usually present. About 65 species are 

 known, referred to 14 genera: Atherina, Iso, Ghirostoma, Thyrina, 

 Atherinella, Lahidesthes, Atherinopsis, Atherinops, Telmatherina, 

 Neatherina, Pseudomugil, Rliomlatr actus, Aida, Melanotaenia. 



