The natural history of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals . so as to present the appearance of four teeth—-two above,and two below ; and this structure also gives them aremote analogy to the lips of the hare. The tail ismore lengthened than in any other of the cheloniformfishes, in accordance with what we should expect in theapodal type : the spines on the body are so short, thatthey are mere prickles; while, in some, they merelyassume the appearance of rough asperities on the skin ;the body is nevertheless, very slimy.* These fishes areremarkable for having only three gill
The natural history of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals . so as to present the appearance of four teeth—-two above,and two below ; and this structure also gives them aremote analogy to the lips of the hare. The tail ismore lengthened than in any other of the cheloniformfishes, in accordance with what we should expect in theapodal type : the spines on the body are so short, thatthey are mere prickles; while, in some, they merelyassume the appearance of rough asperities on the skin ;the body is nevertheless, very slimy.* These fishes areremarkable for having only three gills or branchia oneach side, — a structure which prepares the passage fromthe BalistidcB to the Chironectidce, where the number isprecisely the same. The rays of all the fins, except thecaudal, are covered by a thick skin ; and all the specieshave small mouths with fleshy lips. The food of allthese small-mouthed fishes appears to be crabs and shell-. WsSSm .?-[> * Hamiltons Gangstic Fishes, p 5. o 3 198 CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES. fish, which they grind with ease by means of theirstrong enamel jaws or hard teeth. As a passage from thisto the next sub-family, we arrange the singular shapedTriodon bursarius Reinw. {fig. 32.), for it partakes ofthe general structure both of one group and the other. (175.) The Diodonince, or globe-fish, have the jawsnot only destitute of any apparent teeth, but are evenwithout any divisions, so that each remains as one entirepiece; yet behind their cutting edges, however, is aslightly rounded protuberance, marked by regular fur-rows, which supplies the place and office of grindingteeth: the form of the body is more globose than in anyof this order; and, when distended, becomes, in somespecies, absolutely round : they are all armed with nu-merous long and acute spines, of which, as M. Cuvierobserves, ahorse chestnut is a good miniature fishes are confined to the tropical and warmla
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubj, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectreptiles
