. The popular natural history . Zoology. Cff^TODONS. 46S a little black between two or three of the first and last rays; the second dorsal and the pectoral are pale brown, and the tail and other fins aie bright red. Passing by many large genera, which cannot be noticed for lack of space, we come to a very odd-looking fish, called perforce, for want of a popular title, the Oreosoma, a name formed from two Greek words, and li'erally signifying hilly-bodied. As the reader may see by reference to the engraving, the name is very appropriate. The upper figure shows its aspect from below. This remark
. The popular natural history . Zoology. Cff^TODONS. 46S a little black between two or three of the first and last rays; the second dorsal and the pectoral are pale brown, and the tail and other fins aie bright red. Passing by many large genera, which cannot be noticed for lack of space, we come to a very odd-looking fish, called perforce, for want of a popular title, the Oreosoma, a name formed from two Greek words, and li'erally signifying hilly-bodied. As the reader may see by reference to the engraving, the name is very appropriate. The upper figure shows its aspect from below. This remarkable little fish war; captured in the Atlantic by Peron, and has ever been esteemed as one of the curiosities of the animal kingdom. Upon the body there are no true scales, but their place is sup- ,jj*^»-~^- plied by a number of bony or horny protuberances, of a conical shape, and serving no ascertained purpose. These cones maybe divided into two distinct sets, the larger set being arranged intotworanks, four on the back and ten on theabdomen, and among them are placed the smaller set. The body of this fish is very deep in proportion to its length, and the operculum has two ridges, terminating in flattened angles. There are two dorsal fins, the first armed with five spines. We now arrive at a large family, containing a series of fishes renfarkable for their extraordinary shape, their bold and eccentric colour- ing, and their curious habits. In Dr. Giinther's elaborate arrangement of the Acantho- pterygiian fishes, this family is called by the name of Squa- mipennes, or scaly-finned fishes, because " the vertical fins are more or Jess densely covered with small scales;" the spinous portions sometimes not scaly. They are nearly all carnivorous fishes, and for the most part are exclusively inhabitants of the tropical seas or rivers. Their bodies are very much compressed and extremely deep in proportion to their length, and the mouth is usually small and placed in front
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
