79 345 



!4ivcn by Klein (26 a, p. 326—27); but, curiously enough, he does not give any morphological 

 interpretation of the constituents described in so many words; only the ventral coracoidal 

 plates he designates, like Günther, as "Heckenknochen. ' 



Cope i8, p. 457) regarded the coracoidal jilates as interclavicles, and this inter))retation 

 later has been generally accepted, until Starks (p. 6251 declared that these bones were not 

 separated from the coracoids. Thus we find these elements called interclavicles in the 

 description of .Ioudan and Evehmann (21 a, p. 756, 757\ which otherwise in the main follows 

 Günther but uses other names; they only speak of 3 pectoral ossicles (i. e. pterygials). 



In Siebenrocks paper (53, p. 131) only the posttemporal and its connection with the 

 cranial bones are described; S. correctly places Fist, among the fishes, which possess all 

 three elements in the clavicular arch: posttemporal, supraclavicle and clavicle. 



Starks (55. p. 625, 630) describes in detail the ventral coracoidal plate and the shoulder- 

 girdle, giving a very good figure. The few points, in which I have anything to add. will be 

 found on pag. 289 [23] of my pa])er; they are in the main the structure of the scapula and 

 the connection between the coracoid plates from the opposite sides in the ventral median 

 line, which latter point seems not to have been observed by Starks. 



Recently Swinnerton (56 b, p. 379) has raised the question about a probable separate 

 existence of the ventral coracoidal [ilates as interclavicles in the grouj) of fishes, comprising 

 Fislnlaria. As his own contribution to the question only regards Gasterüsiciis, which in my 

 opinion does not at all belong to this grou|), 1 shall later come back to it in treating of this 

 genus. Only I may just state here, that the considerations set forth by Starks have in my 

 opinion lost nothing in validity through SwiNNERTON's observation. 



Iß p. 292 (26]. That there are four gills, a well developed pseudobranchia and a 

 slit behind the fourth gill-arch has been seen by i)revious authors, but some, Meckel 

 f i. (p. 18) deny the presence of a pseudo-branch; already LacÉpède mentions the i)resence 

 of the pseudobranchia here as well in Aalostonia ,'"le rudiment dune cinquième branchie"); 

 L. also says that Commerson has found the stomach, in the specimens dissected by hiuL very 

 long, and filled with small fishes. 



Kneu (28 b, p. 29 [260]), after having made the following statements: "die Rechenzähne 

 sind äusserst kurz und spitz ;they are really wanting ; Schhindzähne konnte ich nicht wahr- 

 nehmen", adds: "Der Darm macht keine Windungen (im lang gestreckten Magen fand sich 

 ein Fischchen vor\ die dünnwandige Schwimmblase reicht nur bis zu den grossen queren 

 Fortsätzen der Bauchwirbel." {Fistularia immaciilala = F. serrata autt.;, 



Günther (16 a, p. 535) gives the following information about the visceral anatomy of 

 Fistularia rserrata"): "The greater portion of the case formed by the bony shields behind 

 the head is filled by the air-bladder, the membrane of which is thin, coating the interior 

 surface of the upper and lateral shields, and firmly attached posteriorly to the muscular 

 mass which commences behind those shields. X ])ortion of the stomach and liver also are 

 enclosed in that anterior portion of the abdominal cavity. The stomach is elongate, sub- 

 cylindrical, and passes gradually into the intestine, which is short and straight to the vent. 

 I observe only one short pyloric appendage, enveloped by a portion of the pancreas, which 

 is situated along the whole posterior side of the stomach and encircles its pyloric ])ortion. 

 The spleen is elongate, ovate. The abdominal cavity is extremely narrow from the |)oint 

 where the muscular mass of the vertebral column commences. The kidneys are thick and 

 very long, extending along the whole abdominal cavity upwards to the air-bladder. ' 



The kidneys have been described by Hyrtl 20 b, p. 70) in "Fist, serrula." He also states 

 that a urinary bladder is absent. But some images before in the same work, p. 38, he says: 

 "Eine sehr unansehnliche Andeutung einer Harnblase als spindelförmige Erweiterung des ein- 

 fach gewordenen Harnleiters habe ich an . . . Fistittaria serrata . . . wahrgenommen. ' I have 

 not been able to see the least trace of a bladder. 



The genital organs have been coi iocll\ (k'scril)cd by IlYUTL (20 a, p. 406) in F. sernila. 



