in ichthyology, a genus of fishes belonging to the order of jugulares. The head is smooth; there are are seven cylindrical rays in the branchiostegae membrane; the body is oblong, with deciduous scales; the whole fins are covered with the common skin of the fish; the rays of the back-fins are blunt, and those of the breast are sharp. There are seventeen species, principally distinguished by their cirri, and the number of back-fins.