18 Fishes of the Ohio 



tinguished curator of the British Museum, to draw up a mi- 

 nute description for him. Mr. Gray must have been unac- 

 quainted with the '' Ichthyologia Ohiensis," else he would 

 never have remarked of the species referred to, '' It also differs 

 from all the other known species of the genus in being spot- 

 ted." 



L. ferox. Raf. The Alligator Gar-fish. 



Lepisdsteus ferox. Raf. Ichthyo!. Ohien. p. 75. 



" " Kirtland. Rep. on Zool. of Ohio, p. 196. 



Plate I. Fig. 2. 



Head one fourth of the total length of the fish, broad and 

 flat on its upper surface ; skin rugose ; jaws nearly equal, not 

 half the length of the head, short, oval and obtuse, armed 

 with numerous strong and prominent teeth, of various sizes 

 and lengths ; the palatine arch armed in a similar manner. 

 The upper jaw expands into a knob, beneath its extremity. 

 Eye situated behind the angle of the mouth. 



Body fusiform, cylindrical, and flattened on the back, cov- 

 ered with large bony scales, which are imbricate, and arranged 

 in oblique series ; each scale is sculptured on the external 

 surface. 



Dorsal fin more posterior than the anal, and its tip reaches 

 beyond the commencement of the caudal fin at its inferior 

 edge. The anterior ray serrated before. 



Caudal fin oblique, serrated on its superior and inferior 

 edges. Several of the rays in this fin, and in some of the 

 other fins, are compounded at the middle of their lengths. 



Anal fin serrated on its anterior edge, and attains with its 

 tip the commencement of the base of the caudal fin. 



Ventral fill horizontal ; its anterior ray serrated. 



Pectoral fin ovate, situated beneath the posterior edge of 

 the operculum. 



Color yellowish brown, in the prepared specimens. 



Length from four to six feet. 



Habitat. Ohio river, very rare. 



D. 8 ; 0. 11 ; A. 8 or 9 ; V. 6 ; P. 15 rays. 



