26 CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES. 



(25.) The ScT.^NiN^ succeeds the chaetodons in most 

 systems; and they appear intermediate between them and 

 the Sparince : our analysis of these two sub-families is 

 not yet finished, and we cannot therefore determine the 

 minor groups with that precision which will be found 

 in all the others. They have, in many respects, a 

 close resemblance to the perches ; but they are destitute 

 of palatine teeth : the back is more arched, the mouth 

 smaller ; the tail and caudal fin incline upwards, and the 

 muzzle is obtuse : some few, only, have the dorsal fin 

 protected at the base by scales ; so that, upon the whole, 

 it appears to us, that their true characters, although 

 understood by the eye of an experienced ichthyologist, 

 have never yet been determined. Some of them grow to 

 a tolerably large size j but they have neither the elegance 

 of form of the wrasses {^Lahrince), or the beautiful 

 colours of the chsetodons, except, indeed, in two or 

 three groups. There are a few species found in the 

 European seas, but the majority are exotic. 



(26.) The SparinoB are not only evidently connected 

 with the last division, but we suspect that several genera, 

 therein included by Cuvier, will prove to be naturally ar- 

 ranged in this. In these fishes the pectoral fin is always 

 pointed, and the caudal deeply forked : their colours are 

 delicate, without being rich : the body is generally silvery, 

 tinged with changeable hues of light blue, pink, and yel- 

 low : the fins, however, are always colourless, or at least 

 only clouded by dusky brown : the teeth often vary in 

 almost every species ; and this has given rise to many 

 sub-genera, which cannot be retained in a natural arrange- 

 ment : some of these fishes are provided with strong 

 grinding or molar teeth in the palate, while others 

 have cutting teeth formed nearly on the same model as 

 those of man. The Mediterranean, and even the more 

 temperate seas of Europe, furnish us with many species, 

 but the number evidently increases as their range ap- 

 proaches the tropics. 



(27.) The ScarincB, or parrot-fish, constitute the last 

 and the most aberrant sub-family. Their general shape 



