CLASS PISCES. 207 



genus is even intimately connected with Gempilus 

 and Thyrsites ; the fishes which compose it are 

 elongated, flattened on the sides, and have very small 

 scales. 



In the first tribe we find the muzzle elongated, the 

 mouth cleft, and armed with strong, pointed, and 

 trenchant teeth, and the lower jaw advancing beyond 

 the upper one : it comprises but two genera. 



Lepidopus, Gouan., 



Whose special character consists in the reduction of 

 the ventrals to two small scaly plates ; the thin and 

 elongated body is furnished with a dorsal above, which 

 extends throughout its length, with a low anal be- 

 neath, and terminates in a well formed caudal ; there 

 are eight rays in the branchiae ; the stomach is 

 elongated, with upwards of twenty cceca near the 

 pylorus, and a well marked glandular body is at- 

 tached to the natatory bladder, which is long and 

 slender. 



Lep. argyreus, Cuv. Frequently five feet in length ; 

 it has been described under several names \ and is 



1 It is the Lepidopus of Gouan., Hist. Pise. pi. i. fig. 4 ; the 

 Trichiurus caudatus, Euphrasen, Nouv. Mem. de Stockh. IX. pi. ix.f. 

 2; the Trick, gladius, Holten, Soc. Hist. Nat. Copenh. v. p. 23. and 

 pi. ii. ; the Trick, ensiformis of Vandelli, or Vandellius lusitanicus of 

 Shaw; the Ziphotheca tetrudens of Montagu, Werner, Soc. i. p. 81. 

 pi. ii. ; the Scarcina argyrea, Rafin. Nuov. Caratt. pi. vii. f. 1 ; the 

 Lepidope peron, Risso ; and the Lepidope argente of Nardo. 



