27. LEPIDOSTEID.E - LEPIDOSTEUS. 91 



small, sharp, even teeth, then the series of large teeth, some of the 

 anterior teeth being usually movable. Next comes a series of fine 

 teeth, in one row in front, becoming a band behind. Then the voin- 

 erine teeth also in a long band, and posteriorly outside of the voineriiie 

 band a palatine baud. These bands on the roof of the mouth' are fre- 

 qneutly somewhat confluent or irregular. In young specimens some 

 of the palatine teeth are often enlarged, sometimes forming a regular 

 series. Lower jaw with an outer series of small teeth, then a series of 

 large teeth, then a broad baud of fine teeth on each side. No teeth on 

 tongue. Each of the large teeth fitting into a depression in the op- 

 posite jaw. Waters of the United States. (/U-k, scale; darfov, bone.) 



* Beak long and slender ; the snout more than twice the length of the rest of the 

 head. (Lcpidosteus.) 



O. L.. OSSetlS (L.) Agassiz. Lony-nosed Gar; Bill-fish; Common Gar Pike. 



Olivaceous, pale and somewhat silvery below. Vertical fins and pos- 

 terior part of the body with round black spots, which are more distinct 

 in the young. Very young with a blackish lateral band. Snout a little 

 more than twice the length of the rest of the head, its length 15-20 

 times its least width. Head 3 in length ; depth 12. D. 8'; A. 9. ; Y. 

 6 ; P. 10 ; Lat. 1. about 62. L. about 5 feet. Great Lakes and rivers 

 of the United States from Yerinoiit to the Eio Grande j generally abun- 

 dant.* 



(Esox osseus Linn. Syst. Nat. : Lepisosteus oryurus Raf. Ichth. Oh. 73 : Lepisosteus liuron- 

 ensis Richardson, Fauna Bor.-Arner. iii, 237 ; Giinther, viii, 330.) 



** Beak shorter and broader, little longer than the rest of the head. (Cylindrosteus\ 

 Rafiuesque.) 



81. Jj. platystOEKlIBS Raf. Short-nosed Gar. 



Colors of L. osseits or rather darker. Snout usually about one-third 

 longer than the rest of the head, sometimes about equal to it, its length 

 5-6 times its least width. Head 3 J in length ; depth 8. D. 8 ; A. 8 ; 

 V. 6 ; Lat. 1. about 56. L. 2-3 feet. Gr.eat Lakes and southern and 

 western rivers, with the preceding, but less abundant northward. 



(Lepisosteus platostomus Ratiuesque, Ichth. Oh. 72; Gunther, viii, 329.) 



* M. Auguste Dume~ril (Hist. Nat. Poiss.) divides this species, as represented in the 

 Museum at Paris, into seventeen, which are distinguished by trifling differences in pro- 

 portions and numbers of scales. It is seldom safe to found either a species or a genus 

 of fishes ou differences in proportions alone. 



t Rafiuesque, Ichth. Oh. 1820, 72 : type Lepisosteus platostomus Raf. (nvfavSpof, cylin- 

 der; oareov, bone.) 



