88 



form obtuse thin and veined with one main nerve. Brown a^ 

 bove, while beneath. 



Squalus sfiathula Lacep. Poiss. 1, p. 403, tab. 12, fig;. S. 



Polyo don folium Lacep. and Auct. mod. 



Spatularia. Schneider's Ichthyology. 



This singular fish hab often been described and figured, but 

 I ha/e not seen a single figure of it perfectly correct It is a 

 tare fish, occasionally seen in the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, 

 &c. It disappears in winter. I saw several at the falls in Sep- 

 tembj&r1818. It is caught m the seines and sometimes bites 

 at the hook. It is not eaten. Length from one to three feet. I 

 ^hall add an exact description of it. An oblong rcdish spot at 

 the base oi the snout, which is brown membranaceous, with a 

 thick cartilaginous nerve in the middle and many veins, broader 

 and obtuse at the end. Eyes round small black, before the 

 mouth, a small nostril in front of them. Mouth large, similar 

 to that of a shark, with small crowded teeth on the jaws and 

 the tongue, this is large thick and similar to a file. Gill cover 

 very long membranaceous reaching the abdominal fins. A lat- 

 eral line following the curve of the back. All the fins I rown, 

 nearly rhomboidal, with an obliqua redish band, and a multi- 

 tude of small crowded rays, inserted on a thick fiesh]^. 

 lump: the dorsal fin larger and rather more anterior than the 

 anal. Tail very obliqual, serrated above: lobes not very differ- 

 ent in size, but extremely in shape and situation, the lower one 

 broader, shorter, and nearly triangular. 



XXXIV Genus. Paddlefish. Planirostra. Planirostre. 

 Differs from Polyodon^ by having no teeth whatever and the 

 gill-cover radiated with a short appendage. 



By the want of teeth this genus is intermediate between Po- 

 lyodon and Jiccipenser. It was first described by Lesueur, un- 

 derHhe n^an^^A Platirostra (by mistake) instead of P/aw/rosrra, 

 I had called it in manuscript Megarhinus paradoxus. 



103d Species. Toothless Paddlefish. PlaninostraedeU" 

 ■iula. Piaitirostre edente. 



Head as long as the body, snout longer than the hr;\tl, oCi^ie- 

 ^hac ^cuneiform; obtuse^ and Uiin^ witu two longitudinal nerves 



