Jordan and F.vermann. — Fishes of Nortli America. 



107 



65. SCAPHIRHYNCHUS,* Heckel. 

 (Shovelnosk Stuugeons.) 



Scaphirhi/nchts, Heckel, Ann. Wiener Mus. Naturgesch., i, 1835, 71, (rafinetquei — platininnhnt), 



(not Scaphorhynchus, Maximilian, a jjeniis of birds). 

 Scaphi/rhynchops, Gill, Trans. Amer. Pliil. Soc, V, 12, 178, 1863, {plalnrynchus). 



Snont broad, depressed, snbspatulate or shovel-shaped. No spiracles. 

 Caudal peduncle very long, strongly depressed, broader than deep. Rows 

 of bony bucklers coulluent below the dorsal fin, forming a complete coat 

 of mail on the tail; tail produced in a filament beyond the caudal fin, 

 this longest in the young. (Jill rakers somewhat fan-shaped. Pseudo- 

 branch i;e obsolete. Species al)out 4, one of them inhabiting the fresh 

 waters of the United States, the others in Central Asia (Tartary, etc.). 

 {aKCKpTj, spade; pvyxof, snout.) 



1.50. SCAPHIRHYNCHUS PLATORTNCHUS, (Rafinesquo). 

 (Shovelnose Sturgeon; White Stuegeo.v.) 



Body elongate, tapering into a slender, depressed tail, which extends 

 beyond the caudal fin in the form of a filament; this filament is long and 

 slender in the young, but is usually lost in the adult. Bony sliields 

 opisthocentrous (or with the bony spine behind the middle), sharply 

 keeled, the series confluent below the dorsal, obliterating the smaller 

 plates between; 2 occipital plates, with short keels; a spine in front 

 of pye, and one at the posterior edge of the rostral '"shovel": snout in 

 the young with a few spines. Barbels nearer mouth th.an tip of snout. 

 Greatest width of head about i its length. None of the fulcra enlarged. 

 Dorsal and anal small ; anal a little more than ^ length of dorsal and 

 entirely behind it. Gill rakers small, lamellate, somewhat fan-shaped, 

 ending in 3 or 4 points. Dorsal shields 18 (15 to 20) ; lateral 46 (41 to 46) ; 

 ventral 13 (11 to 13). D. 32; A. 20. Head 4 in length. Color pale olive. 

 L. 5 feet. Mississippi Valley and streams of the Avestern and southern 

 States; common, (tv/mt'cc, broad ; jjvyxoc, snout.) 



Acipenser phitorynchis, Rafinesque, Ichth. Oh., 80, 1820, Ohio River. 

 Acipenser caiapliftcctits. Gray, Proc. Zoiil. Soc. London, 1834, 122. 

 Scaphirhynchus rafinesquei, Heckel, Ann. Wiener Mus. Naturgesch., i, 1835, 71. 

 Scaphirhynckus calaphractvit, GiiNTllER, Oat., viii, 345, 1870. 

 Scaphirrhynchopspla/yrrhynclins, Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 88, 1883. 

 Scaj)hirliyHchus plalyrhynchiis, KiRSCH & FoRniCE, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 188!), 246. 



HOLOSTEI. 



(The Bony Ganoids.) 



Skeleton bony. Ventral fins abdominal, with the basilar segments 

 rudimentary, as in ordinary fishes. Primary radii of posterior limb gen- 

 erally reduced to one rudiment. Suboperculum and preoperculum pres- 

 ent. Branchiostegals pi'esent. Coronoid bone and mesocoracoid present. 

 Arterial bulb with several pairs of valves. Optic nerves forming a chi^ 

 asma. Intestine with a spiral valve. Air bladder cellular, lung-like, 



* By tlio rules of tlio .\nif'ricaii Ornithologists' Union, the generic name Scaphirtiynchopaahonld 

 be preferred. We regard all generic names not spelled alike as distinct. 



