114 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Order 1. HEMIBRANCHII. The Hemibranehs. 
Interclavicles developed; gills pectinate; post-temporal simple, not furcate; supraelavicle quite 
small; superior pharyngeal bones reduced in number, the bones of the gill-arches also reduced except 
in Gasterosteidir; inferior pharyngeals present, not united; ventral fins abdominal or subabdominal, 
joined to the intraclavicle or else detached from it through partial atrophy of the shoulder-girdle; 
mouth bounded above by premaxillaries only; shoulder-girdle simple in structure; basis of cranium 
simple and without tube; 4 anterior vertebra; more or less elongate; snout usually more or less pro¬ 
duced, the small mouth at its end. A small group, well distinguished from the Pe.rcesoces and other 
Teleocepliali, from ancestors of which it is probably descended, differing in the presence of the inter¬ 
clavicles and in the reduction of the shoulder-girdle and other structures. Its relations to the 
Lophobranchii are close, the characters of the latter being largely extremes of the same mollifications. 
FAMILIES OF HEMIBRANCHII. 
a. Only one dorsal fin. 
b. Dorsal preceded by 8 to 12 free spines. 
bb. Dorsal without spines and not followed by finlets. 
aa. Dorsal fins 2, the anterior of spines only, the posterior of soft rays 
Family XXXV. AULOSTOMIDAi.- The Trumpet-Fishes. 
Body compressed, elongate, covered with small ctenoid scales; lateral line continuous; head long; 
mouth small, at the end of a long, compressed tube; lower jaw prominent, with a barbel at the sym¬ 
physis; premaxillary feeble, not protractile; maxillary broad, triangular, with a supplemental bone; 
teeth minute, in bands, on lower jaw and vomer; branchiostegals 4; gills 4, a slit behind the fourth; 
pseudobranchise well developed; gill rakers obsolete; gill-membranes separate, free from the isthmus; 
air-bladder large; spinous dorsal present, of 8-12 very slender free spines; soft dorsal and anal rather 
Jong similiar, posterior, with 23 to 28 rays each; caudal small, rhombic, the middle rays longest, but 
not produced into a filament; ventral8 abdominal, of G rays, all articulated; pectorals broad, rounded, 
the space in front, of them scaly; first 4 vertebra elongated; 2 pyloric caeca. A single genus,'with 2 
species, found in tropical seas. 
Genus 62. AULOSTOMUS Lacepede- 
Characters of the genus included above. 
Aulostomus Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., V, 357, 1803 ( chinensis ). 
Aulostovia Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, 320,1850; changed spelling. 
Polypterichthys Klceker, Nat. Tyds. Ned. Ind., IV, 1853, 008 ( valcntini = chinensis). 
Solenostomus Gronow, Cat. Fishes, cd. Gray, 140, 1854 {chinensis). 
. Aulostomidx, p. 114 
. FistulariidR', p. 115 
. M aerorhamphosidse , p>. 117 
75. Aulostomus valentini (Bleeker). “ Nunu” Fig. 34. 
Head 3; depth 3.75 in snout; snout 1.5; eye 8 in snout; maxillary 4 in snout; mandible 2.65 in 
snout; D. xi-27; A. 26; seales.about 19-250-20. 
Body elongate, compressed, Covered with small ctenoid scales; lateral line continuous, slightly 
arched over base of pectoral; head long; eye moderate, posterior; mouth small, oblique, at the end of 
a long compressed tube; lower jaw prominent, hooked and with a barbel at the symphysis; premaxil¬ 
lary slender; maxillary broad; minute teeth on lower jaw, vomer, and palatines; dorsal similar to anal, 
both posterior, dorsal directly over anal, their posterior bases arching and nearly meeting on the long 
slender caudal, peduncle. 
Color in alcohol, brown with about 14. lighter colored cross-bands, about as wide as eye, extending 
around the body; base of dorsal and anal black; a black spot on upper anterior half of caudal, and 
one usually present on lower rays; a similar spot on base of each ventral; first rays of dorsal black; 
fins otherwise pale yellowish; a black spot on middle of maxillary; sometimes a series of 2 to 5 or 6 
small black spots on median line of belly in front of anal; sometimes other black spots on belly. 
The above description chiefly from a specimen (No. 03327) 19.5 incheg long, from Honolulu. 
Other examples somewhat smaller are darker in coloration, some of them uniform chocolate-brown 
