Centriscidæ.

Form of the body compressed, oblong or elevated; the anterior bones of the skull are much produced, and form a long tube terminating in a narrow mouth. Teeth, none. Body either covered with a cuirass or with non-confluent ossifications; scales, none, or small. Two dorsal fins; the spinous short, and with one of the spines strong; the soft and the anal of moderate extent; ventral fins small, without spine, or rudimentary, abdominal. Branchiostegals three or four; air-bladder large, four gills and pseudobranchiæ;. Pyloric appendages, none; intestinal tract rather short.

Mediterranean and north-eastern shores of the Atlantic. Eastern coasts of Africa. Coasts of China, Japan, and Australia.

Centriscus humerosus. Australian coast.