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Show 168 PISCES. . th side next to the mouth, are furnished with lamellce, branch1re, on e . 1 · · · 'I t the external ones, wh1ch may a so assist m the pro-nearly simi ar o . 1 d f · t' n (1) Their stomach 1s smal, an has but two cess 0 resp1ra 10 • . . . d ges but their intestine IS very long; the parietes of pylor1c appen a , their natatory bladder are thick. OsPHROMENus, Commers.(2) All the characters of a Polyacanthus, but t~e forehead is somewhat th nal larger than the dorsal, as m Macropodus; the subconcave; e a orbitals and lower part of the preoperculum ver! finely d~ntated; h fi t soft ray of the ventrals extremely long; SIX branchtal rays t e rs . f h' · · and the body strongly compressed. A species o t IS genus ongtn· ally from China, . . .. Osphr. olfax, Commers.; the Gouram~; Lacep. III, m, 2, be· comes as large as the Turbot, and is considered even more delicious. It was introduced into the ponds of the Isle of France, where it increases rapidly, and has been taken thence to Cay· enne. The female is said to form a cavity in the sand for the reception of her eggs. The TRICHOPonus, Lacep. Differs from Osphromenus in having a more convex forehead, and a shorter dorsal, besides which there are but four rays in the bran· chire; the first soft ray of their ventrals very long. There is but one species known; a small fish of the Moluccas, marked with a black spot on the side.(3) SPIROBRANCHus, Cuv. The general form of Anabas, but the opercula are not dentated; ~he operculum merely terminating in two points; a series of palatme teeth. (1) But one species is known (Hel. Temminckii, Cuv. ), from the Moluccas, which we shall minutely describe in our lcthyology. (~) This name is derived from oa-cp~o,u«-t (olfacio), and was invented by Co~· merson, who conjectured that the hollow pharyngeals visible in this fish, as m others of the family, might be organs of smell, a kind of a:thmoides. N.B. The Osphromene gal. Lacep., Scarus gallus, Forsk. is a. Julis, Nob.; but we have two new species of true Ophromeni, Ophr. notatus, and the vittatus, Cuv.' (3) It is the Lahrus trichopterus, Gmel., Pall., Spic., Fasc. VIII, P· 45; the Tr1· ihcpterus Pallaaii, Shaw, IV, part II, p. 392; the 'Prichogaster trichopterus, Dl.,Sebn, and the Triclwpork trichoptere, Lacep. N.B. The Triclwpode mentcmnier, Lacgr., or T. satyrus, Shaw, vol. IV, part II, p. 391, only 1·es.ts upon a bad figure of Gou· n~ . ACANTHOPTERYGII. 169' Sp. capenaia, Cuv. A diminutive fresh water fish fro·m the' Cape of Good Hope; the only species known. The 0PHICEPHALus, BL Resembles all the preceding genera in most of its char·acters, and' particularly in the cellular conformation of the pharyngeals, which· are adapted to retain water. These fishes also creep to a consi_. derable distance from tlleir liquid abodes, but what particularly distinguishes, and even separates, them, from all other Acanthopte-' rygii, is the absence of spines in the fins, the first ray of their ventrals at most exceptedf and even that, though simple, is not sharp and stiff. Their body is elongated and almost cylindrical; their muzzle short and obtuse; their head depl'essed and furnished abo'Ve with scales, or rather p·olygonal plates, as in ~nabas, &c. There are five rays in their branchi~; the dorsal oocupies nearly their whole length, the anal also is very lorrg; the caudal rounded, the pectorals and ventrals moderate, and the lateral line uninterrupted. Their stomach is shaped like an obtuse sac; two· tolerably long crecums adhere to the pylorus. The abdominal cavity extends above the anal~ close to the end of the tail. The jugglers of India exhibit this fish out of water, and even the children amuse· themselves by forcing it to crawl upon the ground. In the marketS' ofCbina the larger species are cut up alive for distribution.( I) They may be divicle'd by the number of their dorsal rays~ Some have but thirty odd of these rays.(~) Others forty odd.(3) Some again have more ~han fifty.( 4) FAMILY X.L MUGILOIDES. Our eleventh family of the Acanthopterygii is composed o( the genus (1) This is most incontestably the genus alluded to by Theophrastus. (2) Ophicephalus punctatus, Bl., or Oph. lata, Buchan;-0. marginatus, Cuv.,· or 0. gachua, Buchan.? pl. xxi, f. 21,. or (]or. motta, Russel, II, pl. 164;-0. auran· ticw,. Buch. (3) Ophicephalus &triatua, Bl. 359, or Muttalt, Uussel, pl.l62, or 0. chena, Buch.·? -(J tola, Id. ;-0. sowara, Russ. 163. . (4) Ophieephalus marulws, Buch.,. which is the Bost-richoi'de reille, Lacep. IJ, Ilv, 3;-0ph. barca, Buch. xxxv, 20, to which the Bostriche taeliete, Lacep. III, p. VoL. II.-:W |