76 TISH GALLERY. 



|jCasel4.] to the {jubic bone^ and composed of a spine and a small ray. The 

 spines of the anterior dorsal are isolated. Three species are common 

 in the British Isles, and are very remarkable for the elegant nests 

 they construct, The three-spined and ten-spined Sticklebacks 

 {Gastrosteus aculeatus and puvgitius) are inhabitants of the 

 fresh and brackish . waters ; the larger, or fifteen-spined, species 

 (G. spinachia) is marine, and abundant in brackish water. 



The FistulariidcB, or Flute-mouths (Case 14), are gigantic marine 

 Sticklebacks, living near the shore. They are distributed over 

 the whole of tbe tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic and 

 Indo-Pacific. The species are few in number. 



Order II. PHARYNGOGNATHI. 



, Acanthopterygians with the lower pharyngeal bones coalescent. 

 They are divided into four families : — 1. Pomacentridee. 2. La- 

 bridce. 3. Embiotoddce, 4. Chromides. 



Fiff. 01. 



Separate upper and united lower pharyngeal bones of Labi-us maculatut. 



The Pomacentridee are small marine fishes, resembling the 

 Chaetodonts with regard to their geographical distribution, mode 

 of life, and coloration. 



The Labrida, or Wrasses (Cases 14, 15), are a large family of 

 littoral fishes, very abundant in the temperate and tropical zones 

 but becoming scarcer towards the Arctic and Antarctic circles where 

 ^hey disappear entirely. Many of them are readily recognized by 



