FINS 83 



anal, thus completing a more or less continuous fin round the 

 edge of the fish's body. 



In all living Sharks and Rays the hinder parts of the pelvic 

 fins in the male are specially modified to form elaborate organs 

 known as "claspers" or mixopterygia, which not only serve to 

 grasp the female during copulation, but also assist in the process 

 of fertilisation {cf. p. 294). A few members of the group of 

 Bony Fishes known as Cyprinodonts [Microcyprini) have the 

 fins in the male modified for a similar purpose {cf. p. 296). 



