The Tangs
BODY oblong, compressed and usually elevated, covered with very small scales; lateral line continuous; tail armed with 1 or more spines or bony plates; eye high up; preorbital very narrow and deep; nostrils double; mouth small and low, each jaw with a single series of narrow incisor-like teeth; vomer and palatines toothless; premaxillaries slightly movable, but not protractile; no gillrakers; pseudobranchiae large; gill-membranes attached to the isthmus, the openings restricted to the sides; 1 dorsal fin, with strong spines, the spinous part of the fin shorter than the soft part; anal similar to soft dorsal.