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Show 274 PISCES. oisonous during the period in which they feed on the coralline p0• rypi; fucus is all that I met with in those I opened. BALISTES, proper. The entire body covered with very hard, large, rhomboidal scales which do not overlap, and have the appearance of compartments <>f the skin; the first dorsal has three spines, the first of which is much the longest, and the third very small and placed far back; the extremity of the pelvis is always salient and prickly, and behind it are some spines involved in the skin, which, in the long species, h~ve been considered as rays of ventrals. Some of them have no peculiar caudal armature, and of these again, some have scales behind the gills which are no larget· than the others. Such is a species that inhabits the Mediterranean, the B. capriscus, L.; Salv., 207, and Will., I, 19; Pourc, Pem balestra, &c. (The Mediterranean File-Fish.) Brownish-grey, spotted with blue, or gt·eenish. Its flesh is not esteemed.(!) Others, with this unarmed tail, have scales behind the gills which are larger than the rest.(2) In the greater number, the sides of the tail are armed with a cer· tain number of rows of spines bent forwards, and all those of this division with which we arc acquainted, have scales behind the gills larger than the others.( 3) (1) I suspect the B. maculatus, Bl., 151, is the same as the capriscus. lam even inclined to believe that such is also the case with the B. buniva, Lacep., V, xxi, 1;-Add, Bal. stellaris, Schn., Lacep., I, vi;-Bal. sujflamen, Mitch., VI,2;Bal. jellalca, Cuv., Lamayellaka, Russel, I, 22. (2) Bal. forcipatus, Will., I, 22;-Bal. vetula, Bl., 150;-Bal. punctatus, Gm., Will., App. 9, f. 4;-We might also distinguish the Bal. noir, Lacep., I, xv,re· markable for its upper lateral teeth, which are prolonged into canini, aad for the great fo1•ks of its tail. N.ll. The B. niger, Schn., does not differ from the Rin· gens;-Bal. fuscus, Schn., or B. grandes tac!tes, Lacep., I, 373, remarkable for its naked cheeks furnished with rows of tubercles. (3) Species with two or three rows of spines. Bal. lineatus, Schn., 87, Re· nard, 217, or B. lamou1·oux, Quoy and Gaym., Voy. Freycin., pl. 47, f, 1? Bal. cendre, Lacep., I, xvii, 2, or B. arcuatus, Schn., Journ. de Phys., Juillet, 1774. Species with three rows. Bal. aculealus, L., Bl., 149, :Lac., I, xvii, 1, Ren3rd, I, 28, f. 154, and II, 28, f. 136;-Bal. verrucosus, L., Mus. Ad. Fred., XXVll, 57, the same as B. pradin, Lacep., I, 335, and the B. viridis, Schn. Species with four or five rows. Bad. ecltarpe, Lacep., I, xvi, 1, or Bal. rec/all· gulus, Schn., or Bal. medinilla, Quoy and Gaym., zool., de Freycin., pl. 46, f. ~;-Bal. compicillum, Schn., Renard, I, 15, f. 88, and Lacep., I, xvi, 3, under the 1m proper name of Baliate amlricain-it is from the Indian Ocean;.....; B. viriducefll, Schn., or verdiitre, Lacep., I, xvi, 3. PLECTOGNATHI. 275 MoNoOANTIIUs, Cuv. Very small scales, covered with stiff and thickly set asperities, like the pile on velvet; extremity of the pelvis salient and spinous as in the true Batistes; a single large serrated spine in the fir~t dorsal, or at least the second one is almost imperceptible. In some of them the pelvic bone is very movable and is connected with the abdomen by a sort of extensible dewlap; strong spines are frequently observed on the sides of their tail. (I) Others are distinguished by the sides of their tail being bristled with stiff ' setre.(~) Some, because their body is completely covered with small pediculated tubercles.(3) Others again, because that same part is furnished with slender and ft·equently branched cilia.( 4) A fifth kind have none of these various characters.( 5) ALuTEREs, Cuv. An elongated body covered with small and scarcely visible granules; a single spine is the first dorsal; the chief character is in the Species with six or seven rows. Bal. arme, Lacep., XVIII, 2. N.B. It is neither the armatus of Schn., nor, as he supposes, his chrysopterus,--Bal. ringem, Bl., 152, 2, or niger, Schn., or sillonne, Lacep., I, xviii, 1. Species with twelve or fifteen rows. Bal. bursa, Schn.; B. bourse, Lacep., III, 7, Renard, I, 7, and Sonnerat, Journ. de Phys., 1774. · Species in which the spines are not very sensible, and are reduced to small tubercles. Bal. bride, Lacep. I, xv, 3;-Bal. etoile, Lacep., I, xv, l, or B. atellaria, Scbn., or Dondrum yellakah, Russel, XXIII. N.B. If the BALISTAPus of Tilesius, Mem. Acad. Petersb., VII, ix, actually want the pelvis, it will form a subgenus immediately after the true Dalistes. (1) Baliates cltinensia, BI., 152, 1;-Bal. tomentosua, Id., 148, which is not that of Linn~us, but the Pi'ra aca, Marcgr., 154;-Bal. japonicus, Tiles. Mem. Soc. Moscow, vol. II, pl. 13;-Bal. pelleon, Quoy and Gaym., Zool. de Freycin., pl. 45, f. 3;-Bal. geograplticus, Per., Cuv., Regn. Animal, pl. ix, f. 2. (2) Bal. tomentosus, L., Seb., III, xxiv, f. 18, Gronov., Mus., VI, f. 5;-B. a brwses, Bal. scopus, Commers., Lacep., I, xviii, 3, agreeing with the description given by Linn~us of the ltispidus, but neither with the character nor figure quo· ted by Seba. (3) Bal. papillosua, Schn., White, p. 254. (4) Bal. penicilligerus, Peron., Cuv., Regne Animal, pl. ix, f. 3;-Bal. uillotUs, Ebrenb. (5) Bal. hispidus, L., Seb., III, xxxiv, 2;-Bal. longirostris, Schn., Seb., Ill, xxiv, 19;-Bal. papillosus, L.? Lacep., I, xvii, 3, under the name of monoceros, Clus., Exot., lib., VI, cap. xxviii;-Bal. villosus, Cuv. :-Bal. guttatua, Id. \ |
