=The Soldier-fishes: Holocentridæ.=—The soldier-fishes (_Holocentridæ_), also known as squirrel-fishes, Welshmen, soldados, matajuelos, malau, alehi, etc., are shore fishes very characteristic of rocky banks in the tropical seas. In this family the flesh is firm and the large scales very hard and with very rough edges. There are eleven spines in the dorsal and four in the anal, the third being usually very long. The ventral fins have one spine and seven soft rays. The whole head and body are rough with prickles. The coloration is always brilliant, the ground hue being scarlet or crimson, often with lines or stripes of white, black, or golden. The fishes are valued as food, and they furnish a large part of the beauty of coloration so characteristic of the fishes of the coral reefs. The species are active, pugnacious, carnivorous, but not especially voracious, the mouth being usually small. [Illustration: FIG. 202.—Soldier-fish, _Holocentrus ascenscionis_ (Osbeck). ] [Illustration: FIG. 203.—Soldier-fish, _Holocentrus ittodai_ Jordan & Fowler. Riu Kiu Islands, Japan. ] The genus _Holocentrus_ is characterized by the presence of a large spine on the angle of the preopercle. Its species are especially numerous, _Holocentrus ascenscionis_, abundant in Cuba, ranges northward in the Gulf Stream. _Holocentrus suborbitalis_, the mojarra cardenal, is a small, relatively dull species swarming about the rocks of western Mexico. _Holocentrus spinosissimus_ is a characteristic fish of Japan. Many other species abound throughout Polynesia and the East Indies, as well as in tropical America. _Holocentrus ruber_ and _Holocentrus diadema_ are common species of Polynesia and the East Indies. Other abundant species are _H. spinifer_, _H. microstomus_, and _H. violascens_. _Holocentrus marianus_ is the marian of the French West Indies. _Holocentrus sammara_, and related large-mouthed species occur in Polynesia. [Illustration: FIG. 204.—_Ostichthys japonicus_ (Cuv. & Val.). Giran, Formosa. ]