The Squamipinnes 405 
with blue, is one of the gaudiest inhabitants of the coral 
reefs of Polynesia. Holacanthus flavissimus, golden with some 
deep-blue markings, and Holacanthus nicobariensis, blackish with 
white circles, are found with other species in the same waters. 
The genus Pomacanthus (Pomacanthodes) includes American 
species only, still larger in size and differing from Holacanthus in 
having nine to eleven spines only in the dorsal fin. The young 
of Pomacanthus are blackish, crossed by many curved yellow 
cross-bands, which disappear entirely with age. Three species 
Fic. 341.—Rock Beauty, Holacanthus tricolor (L.). Puerto Rico. 
are known, Pomacanthus arcuatus, the black angel, chirivita 
or portugais, Pomacanthus paru, the Indian-fish or paru of the 
West Indies, and Pomacanthus zontpectus, ‘‘Mojarra de las 
Piedras,”’ of the west coast of Mexico. All are good food-fishes, 
but lacking the brilliant colors of Holacanthus and the fine 
pattern usual in Chetodon. 
The Pygeide.—Between the Chetodontide and the Acanthuride 
we would place the extinct family of Pygeide, of the Eocene. In 
Pygeus gigas and other species the dorsal spines are strong and 
numerous; there are 5 to 8 species in the anal fin, the scales 
are shagreen-like, and the teeth seem coarser than in the Cheto- 
dontide. The tail is apparently unarmed, and the soft dorsal, as 
in Chetodon, is much shorter than the spinous. To this family 
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