102 
ACANTHOPTERYGII. MAilNAD^. 
Family VII. M^enaDjE. 
{Mendoles,) 
With much in their form and characters that 
resemble the preceding Family of the Sparidoe^ 
the M(Enad(B differ from them in the extreme 
extensibility, and retractibility of the upper 
jaw^ a peculiarity dependent on the length of 
the intermaxillary pedicels, which withdraw be- 
tween the orbits of the eyes. They have teeth in 
the jaws, which are very fine and close set, re- 
sembling the pile of velvet ; in general, the palate 
is toothless. The body is furnished with scales, 
some of which, very small and delicate^ often, but 
not always, extend upon the dorsal fin ; the 
ventrals are placed beneath the pectorals. Their 
air-bladder is large, simple, and rounded in 
front ; commonly divided posteriorly into two long 
horns, which penetrate into the muscles of the 
tail, on each side of the internal spines of the 
anal fin. 
The four genera which compose this Family, 
comprising, according to the Prince of Canino, 
sixty-one species, are thus distributed. Mcsna 
is confined to the Mediterranean ; Smarts inhabits 
the same sea, but less exclusively, a few species 
being found in the East and in the West Indies; 
Ccesio is confined to the Indian Ocean and its 
gulfs; and Gerres spreads itself over all the 
tropical seas. The Family is of little importance 
to man ; the Common Mendole {Mcena vulgaris^ 
Cuv.) of the Mediterranean, is considered so 
utterly worthless, that its name in Venice is a 
