FILE-FISHES. 
633 
Genus BALISTES. 
Peduncle of the caudal fin laterally compressed . Jaw-teeth white , those in the lower jaw and in the outer row in 
the upper jaw obliquely incised or claw-shaped; no prominent canines. Lips fleshy and naked. First dorsal fin 
completely separated from the second , its membrane falling short of the first ray of the second dorsal fin. 
Rays of the second dorsal fin less than 30. 
Such are the characters by which Bleeker" has 
defined the true File-fishes, which are distinguished 
from all the other members of the family by their 
comparatively thick and also naked lips 6 . The greater 
number of these forms are furnished behind the gill- 
openings, on each side above the angle of the pectoral 
fin, with the plates whose connexion with the air- 
bladder has been pointed out, as Ave have mentioned 
above, by Mobius. One or perhaps two species are, 
hoAvever, knoAvn, Avhich are Avithout these special axillary 
plates, and on this account Bleeker proposed to estab- 
lish a subgenus Canthidermis, borroAving the name, 
but not its application, from Swainson c . To this sub- 
genus Ave should then refer 
THE SPOTTED FILE-FISH (SW. SPATTBALISTEN d OR FLACKFILAREN e ). 
BALISTES MACULATUS. 
Fig. 155. 
No special axillary plates. Scaly covering of the cheeks even , unbroken by any longitudinal , naked strips. A lon- 
gitudinal hollow in front of each eye just below the naked , oblong depression in which the two small , oval nostrils 
are situated f . Tail unarmed , but the scales on the sides of the body furnished during youth on the free part of 
their surface with rows of pointed spines and at the middle (at the tip of the next scale in front) with one rather 
more prominent spine; in older specimens all the scales granulated on the free part of their surface, and the scales 
on the sides of the body retaining only blunt stumps of the spines , among which those at the middle of each scale 
are larger and somewhat elongated , together seeming to form longitudinal rows of low carince. About 32 scales 
in an oblique transverse row from the vent to the first dorsal fin. The quadrangular, elongated scales of the ventral 
side groper He in about 14 obliquely longitudinal rows, the upper ones containing about 17 scales between the 
base of the pectoral fin and the anal region. Length of the head- in adult specimens 1 / i , breadth of the inter orbital 
space about 7io> length of the snout about 15 %, distance between the first dorsal fin and the tip of the snout 28 
or 29 %, distance between the second dorsal fin and the tip of the snout 49 or 50 %, distance between the anal 
fin and the same point 55 or 56 % of the length of the body. Second dorsal and anal fins in front high 9 with the 
posterior outer (resp. upper or lower) margin concave. Length of the caudal fin at the middle equal to that of the 
snout’ 1 . Length of the pectoral fins 7u of that of the body. Pelvic spine short, sometimes firmly united to the pelvis. 
Greatest depth of the body in young specimens rather more than x / 21 in old rather less than 1 / 3 of its length. 
Least depth of the body equal in adult specimens to the length of the pectoral fins. Greatest thickness equal to the 
length of the snout. Coloration brown or blue, with light blue spots, somewhat smaller than the eyes, scattered over 
the whole body, the second dorsal fin, the caudal fin, and the anal fin. In young specimens the spots are smaller, 
indistinct, and interspersed with darker spots. The fish is sometimes plain brown or black. 
“ Atl. I dull. Ind. Or. Neerl., tom. V, p. 98. 
b Linnaeus’s Batistes ringens is thus excluded from this genus; in its case the lips are extremely thin and lie within the scaly dermal 
fold that extends outside the roots of the teeth in both jaws. 
c Nat. Hist. Fish., Amph., Rept., vol. II, p. 194. 
d Malm, Gbgs , Boh. Fn. 
e Lilljgborg, Sv., Norg. Fisk. 
f The anterior larger than the posterior; between them a longitudinal dermal flap, which partly covers the posterior nostril. 
g The length of the longest ray (the 6th or 7th) in the former fin about 1 7 1 , 2 / of that of the body, in the latter fin (the 5th or 
6th ray) 16 or 17 % thereof, or respectively 73 % of the base of the second dorsal fin and 84 % of the base of the anal fin — in each case 
in specimens between 27 and 30 cm. in length. In younger specimens these fins are more rounded. 
A In young specimens the caudal fin is sharply rounded; in older ones the outer corners are prolonged into pointed, but short lobes. 
