52 NATURAL HISTORY. [TjFPER FLOOR. 
large scales, and having only a single dorsal fin, which is 
spinous in front. Their colours are generally exceedingly 
brilliant; and from usually living on rocky shores they are 
commonly called Rock Fish. 
The Parrot Fish (Scarus) is peculiar in this family, 
for the bones of the jaws being very large, and convex 
externally. The jaws are covered on the front part with 
teeth placed one over the other like scales ; and as fast as 
those at the edge are worn away, they are succeeded by a 
new set. 
The last family of the Acanthopterygians are the tubu¬ 
lar-mouthed fishes, so called from the mouth being elon¬ 
gated into a tube. It consists of only two genera, distin¬ 
guished by the shape of the body, which in the Tobacco- 
pipe Fish ( Fistularia ) is cylindrical, and in the Sea Snipes 
(Centriscus ) compressed. 
The Malacopterygians, or soft-finned fish, which form 
the second division of this Class are characterized by all 
the rays of the fins (except the first of the dorsal and 
pectoral fins) being soft, jointed, and usually divided at 
the end into several branches. This division has been se¬ 
parated into orders, according to the position of the ven¬ 
tral fin. 
The first group, containing most of the fresh water fish, *• 
have the ventral fins situated before the pectorals. 
The next family ( Cyprinidce ) have a small mouth, 
feeble and generally toothless jaws, edged by the inter¬ 
maxillary bones, a strongly-toothed palate, and a soft, false 
fin on the back. These filh mostly feed on water-plants. 
Amongst them are the Carp ( Cyprinus carpio), Tench 
(Cyprinus tinea), Bream ( Cyprinus brama), Barbel {Cy¬ 
prinus bar bus), Loach ( Cobitis), and the Anableps, which 
is peculiar for the eye being divided across, so that it ap¬ 
pears to have four eyes, similar to the Gyrini among the 
water-insects. The female is viviparous. 
The family of Pikes ( Esocidce ), also are without any 
soft dorsal fin, and the upper jaws are edged by the inter- 
maxillaries. In most of the genera, the dorsal fin is placed 
opposite the anal. They are generally voracious, and prey 
on smaller fish. 
In many of these the jaws and palate are full of teeth, 
as in the common pike [Esox lucius); in others, as the 
