STARRY RAY, R. radiata; the SHARP-NOSED RAY, R. oxyrhynchus; the SHAGREEN RAY, R. chagrinea; all found in the European waters.

The THORNBACK, R. clavata, is noted for the excellent quality of its flesh, and is common on the European coasts. The prevailing color of the upper part, which is rough with small points, is dark brown, the under part white, as is the case with most species of Ray. It is two to three feet long.

The SKATE, R. batis, is often called True Skate, to distinguish it from the Thornback and Homelyn, which are also called skate; is not so common as these, but is superior to either for the table; color above grayish brown; under surface sooty white. The females of this as well some other Rays are called Maid in England. It is very voracious, and grows to a large size. Found in the European and American waters.

gether with codfish.

There are several species of Ray found on our American coasts. The SMOOTH SKATE, R. lævis, five to six feet long, perhaps the same as R. batis of Europe, is caught on our coasts and sold in our markets. The CLEAR-NOSED RAY, R. diaphanes, is two to three feet long, and is caught toIts flesh is not much esteemed, but is eaten by some persons; common in our markets in March. The PRICKLY RAY, R. Americana, is two to three feet long, and resembles the R. batis already described. The SPOTTED or OCELLATED RAY, R. ocellata, grows to the length of two or three feet; it is common on our coasts, and is often caught with the hook. The HEDGE-HOG RAY, R. erinaceus, is two to three feet long, and found on the coast of New Jersey.

Genus PASTINACA: Pastinaca.-This includes the WHIP STING RAY, P. hastata; has a long tail, armed with two or more spines. Found on our coasts. The BROAD STING RAY, P. maclura, is six to eight feet long, and ten to fifteen feet wide, with one or two spines on the tail, near the base. Found on the coast of Rhode Island.

Genus TRYGON: Trygon.-This includes the STING RAY, T. pastinaca, which is found on sandy ground in shallow water and not far from the land. Its tail is armed with a sharp spine five inches long, serrated on both edges, with which it lacerates its enemies. Its flesh is rank and disagreeable; widely distributed in the European seas. There are several other species.

Genus MYLIOBATIS: Myliobatis.—This includes the WHIP RAY, M. aquila, the Aigle de Mer of Cuvier. It derives its name from its long, slender, flexible tail; and is called Eagle Ray from

the wing-like form of the pectoral fins. It is three to five feet long; has a sting measuring three or four inches, and is found in the European seas; common in the Mediterranean.

Genus CEPHALOPTERA: Cephaloptera.-To this belongs the SEA DEVIL, or OCEAN VAMPIRE, C. vampirus, sixteen to eighteen feet long, and eighteen feet wide, and occasionally weighs three or four tons. It seizes the cables of small vessels, and sometimes drags them along with great swiftness for several miles. Found on our southern coasts.

ORDER 2. GANOIDEA.

The term Ganoidea is derived from the Greek ganos, splendor, and was applied by Agassiz to a large number of fishes, mostly fossil, distinguished by the angular form of the scales, these being composed of corneous or osseous substances, disposed one upon the other, and covered by a thick coat of enamel, and consequently resembling teeth. As a system more convenient for our purpose we adopt the classification of Müller, applied to the living groups and divided into the Chondrostea, having a cartilaginous skeleton, and the Holostea, having a bony skeleton.

THE CHONDROSTEA.

Of these there are many fossil species, but of the living there are only two families, the Acipenserida and the Spatularida.

Genus ACIPENSER: Acipenser, includes several species of Sturgeon; these have an elongated

ing four hundred pounds is mentioned by Pennant. It is found in the European seas and rivers, especially in the north; its flesh is delicate and is compared to veal. Henry I., of England, declared it to be a royal fish and forbade it to be eaten at any table but his own.

The BELUGA, A. huso, attains the length of fifteen feet, and weighs from one to three thousand pounds. Its flesh is not greatly esteemed, but from its air-bladder an abundant supply of isinglass is obtained, in the Russian rivers, and also in the Caspian and Black Seas, where this fish is common. Other species, taken in large numbers in these regions, are the STERLET, A. ruthenus, and the SCHERG, A. helops. From the female roe of all these species of sturgeons, a substance called caviare is obtained, forming an important article of commerce in the countries around the Mediterranean. As a hundred thousand of the beluga alone are said to be annually taken in the Russian rivers, and as the roe constitutes often one-third of the whole weight of this fish, the extent of this trade may be easily calculated.

The SHORT-NOSED STURGEON, A. brevirostris, found occasionally in the Hudson and other American rivers, resembles the European sturgeon, and may possibly be of the same species. The LAKE STURGEON, A. rubicundus, four to six feet long, is found in lakes Ontario and Erie, and in the Ohio River.

The SHARP-NOSED STURGEON, A. oxyrhynchus, is seven to eight feet long, and is found in the American Atlantic rivers. Other species are found in the northern and northwestern rivers of North America.

Genus SPATULARIA: Spatularia, includes certain species found in the great rivers of North America, of which the PADDLE-FISH, S. folium, of the Mississippi, is the type. In these the skin is naked and the nose prolonged into a thin leaf-like appendage, sometimes nearly as long as the body.

THE HOLOSTEA.

This group includes several families most of which are fossil: of the Amiida, which are clothed with small horny scales, usually covered with a layer of enamel, the Amia marmorata is the best

known species. It inhabits the rivers of the warm parts of America, and feeds on crustacea. It is of small size, and is of little value for food.

Another family is that of the Polypterida; one species, the Polypterus bichir, haunts the muddy bottom of the Nile; it is eighteen inches long, and has sixteen dorsal fins. It is esteemed an excellent fish. Another species, P. Senegalus, found in the Senegal, has twelve dorsal fins.

Of the Lepidosteidae, the only existing family is that of the Bony Pikes, found in the rivers and lakes of the United States. They are of a long pike-like form, the jaws produced into a long narrow snout, presenting a resemblance to that of the gavial. Their flesh is generally good. Genus LEPIDOSTEUS: Lepidosteus, includes the BUFFALO RAY-PIKE, L. bison, two to three feet long; found in Lake Erie and other lakes in that region. The FLAT-NOSED RAY-FISH, L. platyrhynchus, is about two feet long, and is found in Florida. There are several other species.

ORDER 3. TELEOSTEA.

This extensive and important order derives its name from two Greek words, teleos, complete, and osteon, bone, and corresponds nearly with Cuvier's great section of Osseous Fishes. The skull is always of a very complicated structure, and composed of numerous bones; the gills are supported upon free bony arches, and the water passes away from them by a single opening, protected by a bony operculum or gill-cover. The mouth is always formed by a pair of regular jaws, and usually armed with teeth. Many are covered with naked skins, but the majority have horny scales of various forms. We shall notice them under six divisions, as follows: the Plectognatha, Lophobranchia, Acanthoptera, Pharyngognatha, Anacanthina, and Physostomata.

THE PLECTOGNATHA.

This term is compounded of two Greek words, plektos, united, and gnathos, a jaw, and alludes to the principal characteristic of the group, the firm attachment of the bones of the upper jaw and palate to the cranium. The division includes many species, some of which are of very extraordinary appearance. Among them are the Trunk-Fishes, of which there are several species, covered with an inflexible bony armor.

THE TRUNK FISH.

The DROMEDARY TRUNK-FISH, Lactophrys camelinus, three and a half inches long, and YALE's TRUNK-FISH, L. Yalei, fourteen inches long, are found on our coasts. The SIX-HORNED TRUNKFISH, Ostracion sex-cornutus, is found in the Gulf of Mexico.

To this group also belong the Balistes, of which there are several species, having a thick, leathery skin, often beset with spines. They chiefly inhabit warm climates, but one species, the DUSKY BALISTES, B. fuliginosus, twelve inches long, is found on our coast. There are also several species of this family, belonging to the genus Monocanthus, and called File-Fishes, common in our seas. They are of various sizes, from four inches to two feet. One of them, the LONG-FINNED FILE-FISH, M. broccus, eight inches long, is called the Fool-Fish, on account of its absurd manner of swimming, with a wriggling motion, its body being sunk and its mouth on a level with the surface of the water. It is common in New York harbor, and is often taken in nets set for other fishes.

The fishes of the genera Diodon and Tetraodon, popularly called Sea-Porcupines, have a large air-bladder, which they inflate by swallowing air, till they appear almost like balls. They are also covered with spines which they erect at will. Several species of Diodon, called Balloon-Fish, are common in our waters. They are of very small size. Those of the genus Tetraodon are called Puffers: several species are met with in the American seas. The COMMON PUFFER, T. turgidus, which has the various designations of Blower, Toad-Fish, and Swell-Fish, is six to twelve inches long; is abundant on our shores, and is frequently taken by anglers seeking for tautog. When taken out of the water it will puff itself up like a distended bladder; the boys, in a spirit of cruel sport, sometimes throw a large stone upon it in this state, when it

bursts with a loud explosion. Several other species are known along the American coast.

PENNANT'S GLOBE-FISH, T. Pennantii, is found in Europe; it occasionally happens that this, as well as other species, when they have puffed themselves up, lose their balance in the water, and float about, belly upward, in a most helpless condition. The sharp spines on their stomachs, however, protect them from their enemies. Pennant's Globefish is about eighteen inches long; a smaller kind, found in the Nile, T. line

atus, is said to have electrical properties, and occasionally being driven on shore, it dies and becomes dried, and is used for balls by the children

on our coast.

A very small species of globe-fish is found

The largest species of this family is that of the SUN-FISH OF SHORT SUN-FISH, Orthagoriscus

mola, which is almost of a circular form, with long dorsal and anal fins, projecting like handles from its hinder parts. It attains a great size, sometimes as much as four or five hundred pounds' weight, and measures four or five feet in length. It has a silvery appearance, and at night is highly phosphorescent, whence it is called Sun-Fish, and in some places Moon-Fish. Its flesh is not good, but it yields considerable oil. It is found on the coasts of Europe and America. It is here often called Head-Fish.

THE LOPHOBRANCHIA.

To this division, so called on account of the tufted gills of the species, belongs a single family, of very curious formation, bearing the name of Sea-Horse, one species of which is found in Europe-the SHORT-NOSED SEAHORSE, Hippocampus brevirostris. These animals have a head of the shape of a horse, and a long tail without any fin, but which is used by the fish to lay hold of sea-weed and other objects. They are common in the tropics, and are often brought home by sailors. VOL. II.-55.

They are usually of small size. Mr. Yarrell describes two specimens of the Short-nosed Sea-Horse

taken in England; they were about five inches long, and being put into a glass vessel swam about, their heads in a vertical position, and their tails readily grasping the seaweed put into the vase. When the two approached each other, they often twined their tails together. These little fishes are very amusing in an aquarium.

To the same family as the preceding belong the PipeFishes, which have a long, eel-like body, with the jaws united and forming a tube nearly cylindrical. The eggs of the female are cast by her into a sort of false belly belonging to the male, and situated near the tail; here they are hatched, and here they occasionally

THE SEA-HORSE.

THE PIPE-FISH.

take refuge like young opossums! So apt are they to take to this retreat, that if the parent be caught and the young fry be shaken out of the pouch, they will immediately return if the tail of the parent be held in the water. There are several species: the Great PIPE-FISH, Syngnathus acus, which is found on the European coasts, is twelve to eighteen inches long. It lives on

water insects, worms, and small mollusca, and swims horizontally or perpendicularly, in every atti tude of contortion.

THE ACANTHOPTERA.

This sub-order includes those of the Acanthopterygii or Spiny-finned Fishes of Cuvier, which have the inferior pharyngeal bones distinctly separated. The rays of the first dorsal fin are always spinous, and the first rays of the other fins, excepting the caudal, are often of the same structure. The number of fishes belonging to this division is very great; we shall notice them under the following heads: Aulostomidæ, Trigilidæ or Cataphracta, Percidæ, Scianidæ, Sparidæ, Chaetodontidae, Teuthida, Scomberida, Xiphiida, Coryphaenidae, Notacanthida, Cepolidæ, Mugilidæ, Anabatida, Gobiida, Blenniida, and Lophiida.

THE AULOSTOMIDÆ.

The fishes of this family, whose scientific name means pipe-mouthed, have the bones of the face

its flesh is good; length five inches and upward; common on the coasts of Europe. The TOBACCOPIPE-FISH, Fistularia serrata, and NEW YORK TRUMPET-FISH, F. tabacaria, are American species.

THE TRIGILIDÆ OR CATAPHRACTA,

These fishes are noted for having the cheeks covered with bony plates, and the head is usually more or less armed with spines, or furnished with membraneous appendages, which often give them a singular appearance. The fins are usually greatly developed.

Genus DACTYLOPTERA: Dactyloptera.-In the species of this genus, the pectoral fins attain such a length as to enable the fish to support itself in the air for a short time. There are