442 
VERTEBRATA. 
THE FLY-SHOOTER. 
curious instinct. It lias a wide moutli, with the lower jaw considerably projecting ; it throws a 
large jet of water Avith such force and pre- 
cision as almost invariably to bring down 
a fly at the distance of two or three feet. 
The Genus EPHIPPUS: Ephvppus.— 
Includes the Banded-Ephippus, JS.faber, 
five to eighteen inches long. It ap- 
pears occasionally in great numbers on our 
coasts during summer. The fishermen call 
it Three-tailed Sheep' s-Head and Three- 
tailed Porgee. In South Carolina it is 
called Angel-Fish. Its range extends from 
NcAv York to Rio Janeiro. 
The MooN-FisH, E. gigas, is fifteen 
inches long, and has the same geograph- 
ical distribution as the preceding. The 
body is of an oblong oval ; the scales 
large, the teeth conical, bristly, and in 
numerous series. The color is dark bluish 
brown, with metallic reflections ; the sides of the head are tinged with lustrous green. 
Genus PIMELEPTERUS : Pimeleptems. — To this belongs the Razoe-Fish, P. Boscii, six 
inches long ; the form of the body is oval ; the color brownish, with faint longitudinal fines ; 
found on our northern coasts. 
THE TEUTHID^. 
This includes a small number of fishes, all inhabitants of hot climates, remarkable for having 
the sides of the tail armed either with sharp prickles or a large curved spine. They are also 
noted as being herbivorous fishes, and feeding on sea-weed. The species with spinous tails, if 
incautiously handled, inflict severe wounds on their captors. The Surgeon, Acanthurus chirur- 
gus, a West Indian species, received its popular name from its dangerous qualities in this respect. 
THE SCOMBERID^. 
This great family includes two divisions, all of which live in the sea, and are of predaceous 
habits. In the first division the body is short, 
broad, and compressed, presenting a resemblance 
to the Chcetodontidce. In the other the form is 
more attenuated. Of the first the Blepharis 
may be taken as a -type ; of the last, the Mack- 
erel. 
Genus BLEPHARIS: ^ZepAarz's.— This in- 
cludes the Hair-finned Blepharis, B. crinitus, 
five to six inches long ; bluish-white above, shiny 
beneath ; found, though rarely, on the American 
coast. 
Genus ZEUS : Zeus. — This includes the John 
DoREE, Z. faher ; average weight five pounds ; 
found on the European coasts, and celebrated for 
the delicacy of its flesh. This fish, having a 
golden spot on each side of it, contends with the 
haddock for the honor of bearing the marks of 
St. Peter's fingers, each being supposed to have been that out of whose mouth the apostle took 
the tribute-money, leaving on its sides in proof of the identity, the marks of his finger and 
thumb. There is another origin assigned to the golden spots ; an old legend says that St. 
Christopher, in wading through an arm of the sea, bearing our Saviour, caught a Doree, and 
THE BLEPHAEIS. 
