Sillago.—Body covered with rather small, ctenoid scales. Cleft of the mouth small, with the upper jaw rather longer; eye lateral, large. Two dorsals, the first with from nine to twelve spines; ventrals thoracic. Villiform teeth in the jaws, and on the vomer, none on the palatine bones. Operculum unarmed; præoperculum serrated. The bones of the head with wide muciferous channels.
Eight species; small, plain-coloured shore-fishes, common in the Indian Ocean to the coasts of Australia.
Bovichthys.—Head broad and thick; cleft of the mouth horizontal, with the upper jaw rather longer; eye lateral, more or less directed upwards. Scales none. Two separate dorsal fins, the first with eight spines; ventrals jugular; the lower pectoral rays simple. Villiform teeth in the jaws, on the vomer and the palatine bones; no canines. Operculum with a strong spine; præorbital and præoperculum not armed.
Three species are known from the South Pacific.
Fig. 207.—Head of Bovichthys variegatus, from New Zealand.
Bathydraco.—Body elongate, sub-cylindrical; head depressed, with the snout much elongate, spatulate; mouth wide, horizontal, with the lower jaw prominent; eyes very large, lateral, close together. Scales very small, imbedded in the skin. Lateral line wide, continuous. One dorsal fin; ventrals jugular; the lower pectoral rays branched. Teeth in the jaws in villiform bands; none on the vomer or the palatine bones. Opercles unarmed; ten branchiostegals; the gill-membranes free from the isthmus, and but slightly united in front. Air-bladder none.
A deep-sea fish, found at a depth of 1260 fathoms in the Antarctic Ocean (south of Heard Island).
Chænichthys.—Head very large, with the snout spatulate, and with the cleft of the mouth very wide. Eye lateral. Scales none; lateral line sometimes with granulated scutes. Two dorsals, the first with seven spines; ventrals jugular. Jaws with rasp-like teeth; palate toothless.
Chænichthys rhinoceratus from Kerguelen’s Land (see Fig. [108], p. 291); and Ch. esox from the Straits of Magelhaen.