102 



PISCES 



CLASS I 



Sub-Order 1. ANACANTHINI. Miiller. 



All fin rays flexible and articulated. Pelvic fins jugular or thoracic. Pharyngeal 

 bones not fused together. 



Family 1. Gadidae. Cod-fishes. 



Elongated fishes with broad head, and the toothed premaxilla excluding the 

 maxilla from the upper margin of the mouth. t Pelvic fins jugular. Dorsal fin 

 extending almost the whole length of the back, sometimes subdivided into two or three 

 parts ; anal fin much extended, sometimes divided into two. Scales small and smooth. 

 Eocene to Recent. 



Fossil representatives of this family are rare. Nemopteryx troscheli, vom 

 Rath, occurs in the Upper Eocene slates of Canton Glarus. Remains of 

 Phycis, Strinsia, Gadus, and Brosmius have been described from the Miocene of 

 Hungary, Croatia, and Sicily. Undetermined skulls are known from the 

 London Clay of Sheppey. 



Family 2. Pleuronectidae. Flat-fishes. 



Disc-shaped fishes, much laterally compressed and asymmetrical, with both the 

 eyes on one side of the head — the upper side when at rest. Dorsal and anal fins 

 extending almost the whole length of the trunk. Pelvic fins jugular, in front of the 

 pectorals. Air bladder absent. Scales, when present, minute and ctenoid; upper 

 side of body coloured, lower side colourless. Upper Eocene to Recent. 



The flat-fishes are very numerous in the existing fauna, living on sandy 

 coasts, and some of them entering the mouths of rivers. They are extremely 



Fig. 179. 

 Solea kircTibergana, H. v. Meyer. Lower Miocene ; Unterkirchberg, near Ulm. Nat. size, 



rare among fossils. A small species of Rhombus, Klein, occurs in the Upper 

 Eocene of Monte Bolca. Solea, Cuv., is known from the Lower Miocene of 

 AViirtemberg (Fig. 179). 



Sub-Order 2. PHARYNGOGNATHL Miiller. 



Fin rays articulated or partly spinous. Lower pharyngeal bones fused together, 



