CHAPTER XXIII 
THE SQUAMIPINNES 
HE Squamipinnes.— Very closely allied to the Per- 
comorpht is the great group called Squamipinnes 
(squama, scale; pinna, fin) by Cuvier and Epelasmia 
by Cope. With a general agreement with the Percomorphi, it 
is distinguished by the more or less complete soldering of the 
post-temporal with the cranium. In the more specialized 
forms we find also a soldering of the elements of the upper 
Fie. 335.—Monodactylus argenteus (Linnzeus). From Apia, Samoa. 
Family Scorpidide. 
jaw, and a progressive reduction in the size of the gill-opening. 
The ventral fin retains its thoracic insertion, and, as in the 
perch mackerel-like forms, it has one spine and five rays, never 
any more. The ventral fins are occasionally lost in the adult, 
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