218 



SUB-CLASS (and ORDER) TELEOSTEI. 



Serrasalmonina. The caribe. Dorsal fin rather elongate ; an adipose 

 fin ; gill-membranes free from the isthmus ; belly serrated ; trop. 

 Amer. ; exceedingly voracious, they assail persons entering the 

 water. Mylesinus, Serrasalmo, Myletes, Catoprion. 

 Fam. 17. Gymnotidae (71'M''6s naked, vwtos back). Head scale- 

 less ; barbels nonq ; body eel-shaped ; scales small or absent ; 

 margin of upper jaw formed by premaxillaries and by maxillaries ; an- 

 terior vertebrae united, modified, with Weberian ossicles ; dorsal fiji 

 absent or reduced to adipose strip, caudal generally absent ; tail ending 

 in point, can be regenerated ; anal long, pelvics absent ; anus on or 

 near the throat ; shoulder girdle attached to skull ; ribs well developed ; 

 gill-openings narrow ; air-bladder double ; stomach with caecal sac ; 

 pyloric caeca present ; ovaries with oviducts. Eel-like f. w. 

 fishes from S. America. Sternarchus Cuv., Bhamphichthys M. and 

 T., Sternopygus M. and T., Carapus M. and T., Gymnotus Cuv. {Electro- 

 phorus), electric eel, Brazil and Guyanas, electric organ along each side 

 of the tail ; Giton Kaup, Eigenmannia J. and E. 



Fam. 18. Cyprinidae. Body generally covered with scales ; head 

 naked. Anterior 4 vertebrae modified and joined, margin of the upper 



jaw formed by the premaxillaries. Belly 

 rounded or if trenchant without ossifi- 

 cations. No adipose fin ; a dorsal and 

 anal fin, pelvic fins abdominal. Stomach 

 without blind sac. Pyloric appendages 

 absent. Mouth toothless ; lower pharyn- 

 geal bones well developed, falciform, 

 sub-parallel to the branchial arches, pro- 

 vided with teeth in one, two, or three 

 series. Air-bladder large, divided into an 

 anterior and posterior portion by a con- 

 striction, or into a right and left portion, 

 enclosed in an osseous capsule. Ovarian 

 sacs closed. About 200 genera and 1,200 

 species ; freshwaters of the Old World 

 The fossil forms can be referred mostly to living 



Fm. 122. — Lower pharyngeal bones 

 of a carp (after Heckel and ICner, 

 from Claus). 



and N. America, 

 genera. 



I. Catastomina. Pharyngeal teeth in a single series, numerous ; 

 dorsal fin long, anal short ; barbels none. Lakes and rivers of N. 

 Amer., 2 spec, from N.-E. Asia, generally known as 

 suckers. Ictiohius Raf., Carpiodes Raf., Cycleptus Raf., Panto- 

 steus Cope, Catostomus Le Sueur, Chamistes Jordan, Xyrauchen, 

 Eig. and Kirsch, Erimyzon Jordan, Minytrema Jordan, Moxo- 

 atoma Raf., Placopharynx Cope, Lagochila Jord. and Bray. 



II. Cyprlnina. Anal fin short with not more than 5 or 6, 

 rarely 7, branched rays. Abdomen not much compressed. Barbels 

 often present, never more than 4. Three branchiostegals. Air- 

 bladder without osseous covering. 



Gyprinus Art., carps ; large scales ; dorsal fin long with its last un- 

 divided ray osseous and serrated ; pharyngeal teeth in three rows, 

 molar-like (Fig. 122); fovu- barbels. C. carpio the carp, indigenous 

 in Persia and China, introduced into Europe (known 1258 a.d.), into 

 England (known 1496); food vegetable and animal ; bury themselves in 

 mud in winter, will live for some time out of water, may attain a large 



