Ctenoid Acanthopteres. 
■FISHES. Cn^asTODONTS. 
131 
species have moderately compressed, scaly, fusiform 
bodies, and usually a silvery stripe along the flanks. 
The dorsals are two — the first one supported, as in the 
Mullets, by only a few spinous rays, not, however, 
limited to four ; and the ventrals are situated under the 
belly. The premaxillaries are very protractile, and 
the maxillaries taper at their distal ends — a form which 
prevails also in the Mugiloid family, but is unusual 
among other Acanthopteres. The teeth are slender 
and sparse. The preorbitars are not serrated like the 
teeth of a comb, as in the Mullets ; neither have the 
Atherines the notch in the upper jaw, nor the corres- 
ponding mandibular knob. The membranous siphonal 
stomach is only a little wider than the rest of the 
intestinal canal ; there are no pancreatic caeca ; and the 
lining of the belly is coloured by a black pigment. The 
air-bladder is large ; the eggs are large for the size of 
the fish ; and the vertebrae are more than double the 
number of those of the Mullets. 
Though the Atherines seldom exceed six or eight 
inches in length, yet, as they swim in sculls, and are 
easily taken in small-meshed nets ; they are fished in 
quantities for sale, and are esteemed to be delicacies. 
The young especially, called Nonnat {nouveaux ne's), in 
France are prepared for the table by frying in a mass, 
or by boiling in milk. The species are numerous in 
the seas of both hemispheres. One, the Sand-smelt 
{Atherina presbyter), is very abundant on the southern 
coasts of England, and is procured largely in Ports- 
mouth harbour, where it frequents the mouths of 
sewers falling into the sea. 
Family XVIII.— CHiETODONTS {Chcetodontidce). 
Plate 9, fig. 45. 
Called also Squamipennes, are a well-marked group, 
composed of pretty, compressed fishes, whose vertical 
fins are so covered with scaly integument that the 
membrane is mostly hidden, leaving only the spines 
and the tips of the jointed rays visible. In profile the 
body is generally oval, sometimes so high as to be 
nearly orbicular; in other instances the length and 
obliquity of the dorsal and anal rays make the height 
greater than the length, and the profile is more or less 
rhomboidal. It is the gradual thinning off of the body 
into the scaly fins without a perceptible line of demar- 
cation, that gives the peculiar aspect to the Chsetodonts. 
Some of these fishes have serratures on the preoper- 
culum ; two genera have an unusually strong spine at 
the angle of that bone, and other members of the 
family have spines or protuberances on the forehead ; 
but the majority are destitute of armature on the bones 
of the head. Very frequently some of the bones of 
the skeleton swell into bumps ; and one genus is named 
“ the Horseman,” because the crest of the skull resem- 
bles the helmet of a cavalry soldier. These cranial 
bones are frequently brought to England as curiosities 
by seamen, and are not uncommon in museums. Usu- 
ally the head is small comparatively, the shoulder of 
the fish sloping up high above it ; the mouth especially 
is small; and the teeth are brush-like, or villiform, 
sometimes tricuspid, and in one tribe trenchant. In 
the typical genus the teeth resemble hairs closely set 
together, as the Linnaean name of Chcelodon indicates. 
Most frequently the dorsal is perfectly single, the spines 
graduating into the front of the soft raj's, which are the 
highest ; but occasionally there is a depression or notch 
between the two kinds of rays. In all cases the caudal 
is distinct from the other vertical fins. 
The beauty of the Chsetodonts, as they are seen 
sporting among the coral rocks in the pellucid tropical 
seas, caused Cuvier to compare them to the humming- 
birds. 
The genera composing the family are — Chcetodon; Chelmon; 
Megaprotodon (Guiohenot); Herviochus ; Zanclus ; Histiopterus 
(Schlegel); Ephippus; Erepane; Scatophagus ; Taurichthys ; 
ilolocanthus ; Pomacanthus; Platax; Pseittis; Hypsinotus 
(Schlegel); Pimehpleiiis ;* Dipterodon; Panicles (Lowe); 
Brama ; Nemobrama ; Schedophilus (Cocco) or Critis ; Scorpis ; 
Pempheris ; Toxotes; Hoplegnathus (Richardson), or Scarodon 
(Schlegel). 
One species called Ray’s Sea-bream {Brama Rail), 
inhabits the British seas, and it is not very uncommon 
on the coasts of Scotland, Ireland, and England. It 
spreads even to the Norway shores, and is abundant in 
various districts of the Mediterranean; yet it was long 
supposed to be veiy rare indeed, and has been correctly 
described only very recently. It is the Castagnollo of 
the Genoese, and the Palometa of the Spanish fisher- 
men, but was not named in old times so as to be 
recognizable now ; and the only Chaitodontoid ascer- 
tained to be known to the ancient Greeks or Romans, 
is the Mami, or Emperor of Japan {Holocanthus 
imperator), of which Hlllian gives a good description 
under the name of Citharcedus, mentioning that it is 
an inhabitant of the Red Sea. The Chelmons, which 
inhabit the sea and rivers of the Indian Archipelago, 
have long slender faces, with a small terminal mouth, 
from which they can project a drop of water with such 
accuracy, as to strike insects from a distance, and 
cause them to fall into the water, so that they can 
seize them. The Chinese of Java keep these pretty 
fishes in vases, over which they place an insect on a 
thread or twig, that they may see the Chelmons bring 
it down. The Archers {Toxotes), with a much larger 
mouth, and a face altogether different in form, procure 
their prey in the same dexterous manner, and are said 
to be able, at the distance of three feet or more, to 
knock down an insect off an aquatic plant, or from 
the branches of a tree, by a spurt of water. The 
Zanclus cornutus is remarkable for having a horn 
over the eye ; and it is said that if the fishermen of 
the Moluccas catch one, they bow the knee to it, and 
then return it to the water. 
Family XIX.— TEUTHYOIDS {Teuthydidce). 
These fishes have compressed, oval bodies; small 
mouths, which are not protractile, and uniserial teeth 
on both jaws, the palate and tongue being toothless. 
The dorsal is single, and occupies much of the back ; 
the anal also is long ; and the caudal, usually crescentic, 
is well separated from both. The ventrals are situated 
under the axillae of the pectorals. In some genera 
» Pimelepterus, associated with Boridia, form Dr. Gunther’s 
group of PiMELEPTERlNA, which he ranks among the Sparoids. 
