458 Pareioplite, or Mailed-cheek Fishes 
and two free feelers on the pectoral fin instead of three. The 
species of Peristedion are occasionally taken with the dredge. 
Peristedion cataphractum is rather common in Europe. The 
extinct Pertstedion urcianense is described from the Pliocene 
of Orciano, Tuscany. 
The Flying Gurnards: Cephalacanthide.— The flying gur- 
nards, Cephalacanthide, differ in numerous respects and are 
among the most fantastic inhabitants of the sea. The head 
is short and bony, the body covered with firm scales, and the 
very long, wing-like pectoral fin is divided into two parts, 
the posterior and larger almost as long as the rest of the body. 
This fin is beautifully colored with blue and brownish red. The 
first spine of the dorsal fin is free from the others and more 
or less prolonged. The few species of flying gurnard are much 
alike, ranging widely in the tropical seas, and having a slight 
power of flight. The flying robin, or batfish, called in Spanish 
volador or murcielago, Cephalacanthus volitans, is common on 
both coasts of the Atlantic, reaching a length of eighteen 
inches. Cephalacanthus petersent is found in Japan and Cepha- 
lacanthus ortentalis in the East Indies, Japan, and Hawaii. The 
immature fishes have the pectoral fins much shorter than in 
the adult, and differ in other regards. Cephalacanthus pliocenicus 
occurs in the Lower Pliocene of Orciano, Tuscany. 7 
Petalopteryx syriacus, an extinct flying gurnard found in 
the Cretaceous of Mount Lebanon, is an ally of Cephalacanthus. 
The body is covered with four-angled bony plates, and the 
first (free) spine of the dorsal is enlarged. 
