Fishes.
FLYING-FISH.
THE numerous Fishes that inhabit the waters all over the globe are divided into two great groups—the Cartilaginous Fishes, with their framework made up of bones in the form of cartilage or gristle, and the Osseous, or bony Fishes. These large groups are sub-divided in a most puzzling manner by many Naturalists. The long Latin and Greek names used to classify these groups and smaller families are so much more difficult to remember than are the divisions of the great group of Mammals, that we will entirely discard all these derivations and explanations, using only the common English names for grouping them according to their peculiarities of form, the arrangement of the gills, the number and form of their fins, etc., etc.
The first great group of Cartilaginous Fishes is divided into three sections, which make in reality four families, as the second section comprises two. In the first of these we find the queer family of Lampreys, in which the mouth forms a sucker. In the second, are the family of Raias, and the Shark family, characterized by their mouth being furnished with jaws. The third includes the Sturgeons, which are distinguished by having the gills free.
The Bony Fishes are divided into four great sections. The first is represented by the family of Globe Fish and Coffers, which have the jaw attached to the cranium. The second includes the queer family of Pipe-fish and Sea-horses, which have the gills divided into round tufts arranged in pairs. The third division includes the family of soft-finned Fishes, in which the rays of the fins are soft. In the fourth section are the various families of spiny-finned Fishes. And in some one of these groups with their distinct characteristics, may be classified all the numerous Fishes that are known to modern Naturalists.