662 



TELEOSTEI 



(15 + 54), and very elongate dorsal and anal fins formed of soft 

 rays, of which all except the first three dorsal and the first anal 

 are articulated and branched. 



Although these fishes have hitherto been placed near the 

 Blenniidae, the Gobiidae, or the Trachypteridae, they are nothing 

 but extremely elongate Perches, and they stand in the same 

 relation to the Serranidae as the Trichiuridae to the Carangidae 

 and Scombridae. They hardly deserve to rank as a family 

 distinct from the Pseudochromididae. 



Fig. 405. — Gepola. ruhescens 



(After Cuvier and Valenciennes.) 



Two genera, Ce'pola and Acanthoce^Mla, with 10 species, from 

 the Mediterranean and North-Eastern Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, 

 and the Western Pacific. The Band-Fish {Cepola rvhescens), which 

 is common in the Mediterranean, is sometimes found on the 

 British coasts; it grows to a foot and a half in length, andis 

 remarkable for its bright red colour. 



Fam. 14. Hoplognathidae. — Characters of Serranidae, but 

 teeth fused to form a beak as in Tetrodon ; palate toothless. 



Ho]]lognathus, with 4 species, from the Pacific Ocean. 



Fam. 15. Sillaginidae. — As in Serranidae, but soft dorsal 

 and anal much elongate, as in Pseudochromididae, from which 

 the Sillaginidae differ in the separate spinous dorsal. Palate 

 toothed. Connecting the Serranidae and the Sciaenidae. 



Small Marine Fishes from the Indian and Pacific Oceans, 

 ascending rivers. A single genus, Sillago, with about 1 species. 



