27. LEPIDOSTEID^ LEPIDOSTEUS. 
91 
small, sharp, even teeth, then the series of large teeth, some of the 
anterior teeth being nsnally movable. Next comes a series of fine 
teeth, in one row in front, becoming a bantl behind. Then the vom- 
erine teeth also in a long band, and jDosteriorly outside of the vomerine 
band a palatine band. These bands on the roof of the month are fre- 
quently somewhat confluent or irregular. In young specimens some 
of the palatine teeth are often enlarged, sometimes forming a regular 
series. Lower jaw with an outer series of small teeth, then a series of 
large teeth, then a broad band of fine teeth on each side. No teeth on 
tongue. Each of the large teeth fitting into a depression in the op- 
l)Osite jaw. Waters of the United States, scale; bone.) 
* Beak long and slender ; the snout more than twice the length of the rest of the 
head. (Lcpklosteus.) 
§0. L. ©ssews (L,) Agassiz. — Lonj-nosed Gar; Bill-fish; Common Gar FiJce. 
Olivaceous, pale and somewhat silvery below. Vertical fins and pos- 
terior part of the body with round black spots, which are more distinct 
in the young. Very young with a blackish lateral band. Snout a little 
more than twice the length of the rest of the head, its length 15-20 
times its least width. Head 3 in length ; depth 12. 1). 8 ; A. 9. ; V. 
G; P. 10; Lat. 1. about 02. L. about 5 feet. Great Lakes and rivers 
of the United States from Vermont to the liio Grande ; generally abun- 
dant.* 
{Esox osseus Linn. Syst. Nat. : Lviyisostem oxyurus Raf. Ichth. Oh. 73 : Lepisosteus hiiron- 
ensis Richardson, Fauna Bor.-Amcr. iii, 237 ; Gunther, viii,330.) 
** Beak shorter and broader, little longer than the rest of the head. {Cylindrosteusf 
Rafiuesque.) 
§1. h. platystomiss Raf. — Short-nosed Gar. 
Colors of L. osseus or rather darker. Snout’ nsnally about one-third 
longer than the rest of the head, sometimes about equal to it, its length 
5-6 times its least width. Head in length ; depth 8. I). 8 ; A. 8 ; 
V. G; Lat. 1. about 56. L. 2-3 feet. Great Lakes and southern and 
western rivers, with the i)receding, but less abundant northward. 
{Lepisosteus platostomus Raliuesque, Ichth. Oh. 72; Giinther, viii,329.) 
* M. Auguste Duin6ril (Hist. Nat. Poiss.) divides tliis species, as represented in the 
Museum at Paris, into seventeen, which are distinguished by trifling ditfereuces in pro- 
portions and numbers of scales. It is seldom safe to found either a si^ecies or a genus 
of fishes on differences in proportions alone. 
t Raliuesque, Ichth. Oh. 1820, 72: type Lepisostem platostomusBfxi, (Kvltvdpoc, cylin- 
der; ioTEov, bone.) 
