The Cirrhitidæ.—The species of the family Cirrhitidæ strongly resemble the smaller Serranidæ and even Serranus itself, but the lower rays of the pectoral fins are enlarged and are undivided, as in the sea-scorpions and some sculpins. In these fishes, however, the bony stay, which characterizes Scorpænidæ and Cottidæ, is wholly absent. It is, however, considered possible that this interesting family represents the point of separation at which the mail-cheeked fishes become differentiated from the typical perch-like forms. Goniistius zonatus, the takanohadai, is a valuable food-fish of Japan, marked by black cross-bands. Paracirrhites forsteri and other species of Cirrhitus and Paracirrhites are very pretty fishes of the coral reefs, abundant in the markets of Honolulu, the spotted Cirrhitus marmoratus being the most widely diffused of these. Only one species of this family, Cirrhitus rivulatus, a large fish, green, with blue markings, is found in American waters. It frequents the rocky shores of the west coast of Mexico.
Allied to the Cirrhitidæ is the small family of Latrididæ, with a long dorsal fin deeply divided, and the lower rays of the pectoral similarly modified. Latris hecateia is called the "trumpeter" in Australian waters. It is one of the best food-fishes of Australia, reaching a weight of sixty to eighty pounds.
Another small family showing the same peculiar structure of the pectoral fin is that of the Aplodactylidæ. The species of Aplodactylus live on the coasts of Chile and Australia. They are herbivorous fishes, with flat, tricuspid teeth, and except for their pectoral fins are very similar to the Kyphosidæ.
Fig. 301.—Cirrhitus rivulatus Valenciennes. Mazatlan.
The Sandfishes: Trichodontidæ.—In the neighborhood of the Latrididæ, Dr. Boulenger places the Trichodontidæ or sandfishes, small, scaleless, silvery fishes of the northern Pacific. These are much compressed in body, with very oblique mouths, with fringed lips and, as befits their northern habitat, with a much increased number of vertebræ. They bury themselves in sand under the surf, and the two species, Trichodon trichodon and Arctoscopus japonicus, range very widely in the regions washed by the Japan current. These species bear a strong resemblance to the star-gazers (Uranoscopus), but this likeness seems to be superficial only.
Fig. 302.—Sandfish, Trichodon trichodon (Tilesius). Shumagin Islands, Alaska.
CHAPTER XXI
LABYRINTHICI AND HOLCONOTI
