302 
PISCES. 
I 
part; a single dorsal, which extends the whole length of the back, with flexible rays the whole length, ! 
but the anterior ones not jointed ; and they have seven rays in the gills. The following are the sub- | 
genera : — j 
Coryphaina, the Coryphene, properly so called, have the head much elevated ; the profile curved, and descending ' 
rapidly; they have teeth in the palate, as well as the jaws. They are large and splendidly-coloured fishes, cele- < 
brated for the velocity of their motions, and the havoc which they commit among the Flying Fishes. [C. hipparis, ' 
the Common Coryphene, is found in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. It is a brilliant fish, and drives through the 
water like a radiant meteor. Its long dorsal is sky-blue, with the rays gold-coloured ; its tail-fin green ; its back 
green, mottled with orange ; and its belly silvery, divided from the former by a yellow lateral line. As it passes i 
along, however, there is an extraordinary play of colours upon it ; and it is one of the fishes with the changes of j 
whose colours, when dying, the luxurious Romans used to gloat their depraved fancy. Some of the Indian species 
are brighter coloured than this one ; and, indeed, all the Scomberidae have a tendency to get blackish in the cold | 
seas, and brilliant in the warm ones, owing to the greater effect of the solar light in the latter ; for the sunbeam 
is Nature’s pencil, down even to the deepest fish or pearl shell]. 
Curanxamores, differ from Coryphene in having the head oblong, and less elevated, and the eye in a medium j 
position. Centrolophes, has no teeth in the palate, and a plain space between the occiput and the dorsal. [One j 
species, the Black Fish, C. pompiUus, occasionally wanders from the Mediterranean to the southern shores of | 
Britain. It is a powerful fish, and not easily caught, but its flesh is much esteemed. It feeds partially on some i 
sea-weeds, but chiefly on other fishes.] 
Astrodermus, has the head and dorsal like the Coryphene, but the mouth small, four rays in the gills, and the 
ventrals very small in the throat. The scales are thinly scattered over the body, arranged into stars, hence the 
name. Only one species is known, which inhabits the Mediterranean ; is silvery, spotted with black, and has a 
very long dorsal. The fins are red. ! 
Pteraclis, teeth and head like the Coryphene, but the scales larger ; ventrals on the throat small ; dorsal and 
anals as high as the fish. i 
[Such are the leading genera and suhgenera of the Mackerel family, one of the most numerous and | 
splendid in the class.] i 
THE EIGHTH FAMILY OF THE ACANTHOPTERYGII. , 
T^nid^ (Ribbon-shaped). 1 
This family is closely allied to the Mackerels, its first genus agreeing intimately with the last sub- 
genera of Scomber. The fishes composing it are long, flattened on the sides, and have very small 
scales. One tribe has the muzzle elongated, the mouth deeply cleft, with strong trenchant teeth, and [ 
the lower jaw projecting beyond the upper. This tribe contains only two genera. i 
Lepidopus, the Scabbard-fish, or Scale- foot— from the form of the ventrals, which are merely two scaly plates. ^ 
The body is thin and elongated, with a dorsal above, and a low anal beneath, terminating in a well-formed caudal, 
j The gills have eight rays ; the stomach is long, with more than twenty coeca near the pyrolus ; and the air-bladder ' 
} is long and slender, with a glandular body attached. One species, L, argyreus, occurs from England to Southern ? 
Africa, but is not plentiful. It is sometimes five feet long, but it is rare. [It swims with extreme rapidity, and 
often with the head above water. It has no scales on the body, except the two which occupy the place of the 
ventral fins.] 
Trichiurus, Hair-tail . The body, muzzled jaws, and teeth like the last, and a dorsal extending along the back ; but 
no ventral, anal, or caudal fins, excepting a few obscure little spines on the under side of the tail, which terminates 
in a hair-like point ; there are seven rays in the gills ; the stomach is long and thick ; the intestines striped with 
numerous coeca ; and their aii’-bladder long and simple. Viewed laterally, they resemble beautiful silver ribbons. 
There are several species of the Indian Ocean, and one at least of the Atlantic. [One, T. Lepturus, called by 
some the Blade-fish— in contrast, we suppose, to the Scabbard-fish— occurs occasionally in various parts of the 
British seas. It is shining silvery, with greyish-yellow fins ; the dorsal mottled with black on the edge ; the 
irides are golden]. Some of the Indian Trichiuri have been described as having electric or galvanic properties, 
but such is not the fact. 
A second tribe comprehends genera whieh have the mouth small, and little cleft. 
Gymnetrus, has the body elongated, and flat, without an anal fin, but with a long dorsal, a caudal composed of j 
few rays, and ventrals under the pectorals, which are fibrous, with small expansions at their extremities, but both I 
they and the anterior of the dorsal are liable to be broken. The fishes themselves are very tender, their bones j 
soft, their fins easily rent, and their flesh soon decomposed. They occur in the Mediterranean, the Indian, the 
Atlantic, and the Arctic Seas. Some of them are ten feet in length. [Two species have occurred in the British [ 
seas; — G.Hawhensii, on the coast of Cornwall, and G. arcticus, on some of the northern coasts; but the last | 
species is not very satisfactorily made out, as the tenderness of the fish causes it to be mutilated almost the in- j 
stant it is stranded.] ! 
Stylephorus, has a caudal fin, as in the last, but shorter ; and instead of the tail ending in a hook in the middle 
of the fin, as it does there, it is produced in a filament longer than the body. | 
