Sir J. Richardson on Fish from Asia Minor. 489 



are three larger obtuse teeth, which stand one before the other in an 

 antero-posterior (or dermo-central) direction, and are contiguous or 

 incumbent on each other. The most interior one is obtusely conical, 

 with a minute central cusp : the next, which is slightly the largest 

 of the three, is worn on the exterior side ; and the outer one is worn 

 on both sides, but still blunt on the summit : besides these three there 

 are two much smaller and more chisel-shaped ones, abreast of the 

 second of the larger ones, and on its mesial side. There are thus 

 five molar teeth on each lower pharyngeal bone, and a row of aci- 

 cular or subulate tooth-like rakers on its inner border. 



Leuciscus Apollonitis, Richardson. 



The difl^culty of grouping and describing the numerous species of 

 this genus is acknowledged by all who have made the attempt. M. 

 Valenciennes has shown that the labours of Agassiz, Bonaparte and 

 other first-rate ichthyologists on the Leucisci have been by no means 

 successful, nor has he himself been more fortunate in his endeavours ; 

 the small groups of species described in the ' Histoire des Poissons * 

 being far from sufficiently precise to do away with the necessity of 

 reviewing almost the whole genus before any member of it brought 

 from a new locality can be rightly placed. The entire question of 

 geographical distribution rests on the correct recognition of species ; 

 and a great advance in ichthyological science will be made, when the 

 Cyprinoids of Asiatic Turkey, Persia, and Afghanistan shall be col- 

 lected and described, so as to complete the missing links between 

 the European and Indian forms. Enlightened travellers, therefore, 

 like Mr. Poole, who bring home specimens of freshwater fishes from 

 these countries, merit a grateful commendation from a Natural 

 History Society. The specimen that we have now particularly to 

 notice has a strong resemblance to the English Red-eye or Rudd, 

 the Rotengle of the French, and the Leuciscus erythrophthalmus of 

 Cuvier, which is the type of the subgenus Scardinius of Bonaparte. 

 In this group the mandible ascends obliquely in front of the upper 

 jaw, so that when the mouth is shut it forms the most anterior point 

 of the fish. It happens that Mr. Poole's specimen is exactly of the 

 same size with the figure of the Rudd in Mr. Yarrell's beautiful 

 work, so that an exact comparison can be made between them, and 

 the most striking difference is that the Rudd has a slightly greater 

 height of body. The length of the head, the position of the dorsal 

 fin, the decurvature of the lateral line, and the numbers of rays in 

 the fins, are the same in both. The ventrals, however, are a little 

 further forward in L. Apollonitis, so that the tips of the pectorals 

 overlap them a little, and the scales are a trifle smaller, numbering^ 

 two more on the lateral line. In the Asiatic fish, moreover, the pro- 

 file from the point of the snout to the dorsal is less arched, being^ 

 nearly straight ; and the number of the pharyngeal teeth being dif- 

 ferent in the two species, we obtain a precise distinctive mark. Those 

 of Apollonitis number five in the inferior or exterior row, all denticu- 

 lated within and hooked at the point ; while the three forming the 

 interior row are very short, and are likewise denticulated on their 



