Family: ZEIDAE, Buckler Dories, Dory, John Dories, St. Peter Fishes
mouth large, top jaw v protrusible
FAMILY ZEIDAE
BUCKLER DORIES, JOHN DORIES, ST. PETER FISHES
Body oval, its depth > head length; head and body greatly compressed; head bones thin and soft; mouth large, oblique, upper jaw extremely protrusible, top jaw bone widely expanded at rear; jaws with a few minute conical teeth; dorsal fin VIII-X, 22-30; anal fin III-V, 19-30, a locking mechanism between first 2 spines; pectoral fin 11-15, much shorter than head or pelvic fins; pelvics I, 5, origin before pectoral origin; tail fin rounded; scales minute, smooth, imbedded or absent; large (>eye diameter), spiny bucklers along bases of dorsal (4-14) and anal fins (4-11) and along lower midline from pelvics to anus.
Atlantic and Indo-W Pacific; 2 genera with 4 species; 1 Atlantic and Indian Oceans species in our area.
PREPARED BY D ROSS ROBERTSON, AFTER HEE MSTRA (2002)
