35 ° 
SPINY-FINNED GR O UP. 
by the thickened and undivided lower rays of the pectoral fin, which in some cases- 
are elongated so as to aid in the movements, while in others they may perhaps 
serve as additional organs of touch. In form, the body is oblong and compressed,, 
with its investing scales of the cycloidal type; the mouth is terminal, with a 
lateral cleft; and the eyes are situated on the sides of the head. As a rule, the 
branchiostegal rays are six in number, although they may be reduced to five or 
three. The teeth are villi form or pointed, and in some cases there are tusks 
among the smaller ones. In the single dorsal fin the spinous and soft portions are 
of nearly equal extent; the anal fin, which is generally smaller than the soft dorsal,, 
carries three spines; and the pel vies, which, although thoracic in position, are 
situated at a considerable distance from the root of the pectorals, have one spine 
and five rays. These fishes are inhabitants of all tropical seas and the temperate 
zone of the South Pacific. They may be divided into two groups, according to the 
AUSTRALIAN I.ONG-FIN nat. size). 
presence or absence of teeth on the vomers; the first group including the small 
prettily coloured fishes known as Cirrhites, Chorinemus, etc., of which the former 
are characteristic of the Indian and Pacific oceans, while the latter is confined to’ 
the Australasian seas. 
cirrMtichtiiys the g rou P with teeth on th e vomers, we illustrate on p. 349' 
a species (Cirrhitichthys marmoratus) of a genus differing from the 
typical one by the presence of teeth on the palatine bones, and by the spiny 
opercular bone; the preopercular being serrated in both. These fish have six 
branchiostegal rays, tusks in the jaws, and ten spines in the dorsal fin. Five to- 
seven of the lower pectoral rays are unbranched, the scales are of moderate size, 
and there is no air-bladder. The spotted firm-fin, which ranges from the Red Sea, 
through the Indian and Malayan seas to the Sandwich Islands, is one of those in 
which there is no elongation of a ray of the pectoral fins; while it is specially 
characterised by the spotted coloration, the body and median fins showing brown 
spots, and a row of darker spots occupying the base of the dorsal. 
