[Illustration: CHAETODON.]
These Fish form a very curious species. They are brilliantly colored and
marked with odd stripes. Their head is large, with small eyes placed
near the top; the nose and the mouth of some species are very curiously
formed; and the tail—which is not divided—also shows strange forms in
some varieties.
One of the best known is the Bow-banded Chaetodon. The ground color of
this Fish is brown, which shades to black towards the back, and looks as
though covered with velvet and inlaid with ivory, and the light stripes
in the form of a bow, on both sides of the body give it still more showy
appearance. This species inhabits the coasts of Brazil, and other parts
of South America, and grows from three to six inches in length. Other
varieties are somewhat larger, but they are all comparatively small
Fish.
In the winter or rainy seasons they lie deep in holes near the shore.
During the summer, when the sun in that climate blazes the whole day,
they keep at a depth of twenty to thirty yards, which protects them from
its intense heat.