SPINOUS PIPE-FISHES. 
193 
the following bones : — the ethmoid (or anterior 
wall of the skulP) the vomer, (or central bone of 
the roof of the mouth) the pre-operculum and 
inter -operculum, (the anterior parts, above and 
below, of the gill-cover) the pterygoids and tym- 
panals, (bones which help to form the cheeks). 
At the extremity of the osseous tube thus formed 
is placed the mouth, composed of the bones of 
the palate and the usual jaw-bones. In addition 
to this strongly marked character, it may be ob- 
served that the ribs are very short, or altogether 
wanting, and that the intestinal canal is short, 
comparatively free from irregularities and from 
windings. 
This small Family, scarcely mustering twenty 
species, contains two peculiarities of form, the 
types of two sub-families. 
1. Fistulariana. In these the body is long and 
slender, with the head about one-third of the 
whole length. They have six or seven gill-rays ; 
with some bony appendages behind the head, to 
strengthen the fore parts of the body. There is 
but one dorsal, situated far back, immediately 
above the anal ; the stomach is a fleshy tube 
merging into a straight canal, with two ccEca at 
the commencement. These are the little fishes 
frequently brought home as curiosities from the 
tropical parts of the Atlantic and Pacific, and 
called Tobacco-pipe fishes. There are eight 
species enumerated, but they are of no use to 
man. 
2. Centriscina. The mouth- tube is slender and 
cylindrical, and the body is oval or oblong, not 
^ Professor Owen, (Comp. Anat. ii. 104.) It helps to support 
and protect the organs of smell. 
