6/0 



TELEOSTEI 



the Siamese in 1840 were as infatuated with the combats of 

 these fishes as the Malays are with their cook-fights, and the 

 licence to exhibit them was farmed, bringing in a considerable 

 annual revenue to the king. 



Fam. 32. Embiotocidae. — Second suborbital with an internal 

 lamina supporting the globe of the eye ; entopterygoid present ; 

 palate toothless. Eibs sessile, above and behind the parapophyses, 

 where these are present. Two nostrils on each side. Gill-mem- 

 branes free from isthmus ; 5 or 6 branchiostegal rays ; gills 4, 

 a slit behind the fourth ; pseudobranchiae present. Lower 

 pharyngeals united, with conical or pavement-like teeth. Anal 

 fin, with three spines. Ventral fins with 1 spine and 5 soft rays. 



Fig. 409. — Ditrema temminckii, from 



(After Jordan.) 



Small or moderate-sized fishes inhabiting California and Japan, 

 mostly marine, one species, however, inhabiting fresh waters, 

 whilst another descends to a great depth. They feed mostly on 

 crustaceans, but one genus {Alcona) is herbivorous. The name 

 " Surf-Fishes," by which theyare generally known, refers to the fact 

 that most species are found in the surf along sandy beaches. All 

 are viviparous in the strictest sense of the term, the young 

 remaining for a long time closely packed in a sac -like enlarge- 

 ment of the oviduct analogous to a uterus ; they are of relatively 

 large size at birth, and quite similar in form to the parent, whilst 

 at an earlier period they differ in having the vertical fins much 

 more elevated. Twenty-four species are known.^ Principal genera : 

 Jlysterocarpus, Ahcona, Cymatogaster, Umbiotoca, Ditrema. 



Fam. 33. Cichlidae. — No subocular shelf; entopterygoid 



^ For recent accounts of the anatomy, embryology, and ethology, cf. C. H. 

 Eigenniann, Bull. U.S. Fish Oomm. for 1892, p. 381, and A7-ch. Entioickelungs- 

 ■mech. iv. 1896, p. 125. 



