.\riiuKi)()i)i;uii).K. 271 



Before we proceed to the family of the FristipomatUhi', wliich con- 

 tain fishes with the habit and many of the diaracters of the Pcrcidiv, 

 and ^\'llich enter into a nearly continuous scries wth our last genera 

 (Odontonecies, Dulcs), we are obliged to intercalate a fish, which we 

 dare not remove very far from Pomotis, Centmrchus, and BrytUis — 

 fishes with a similar structiu'c of the vertical fins, and inhabitants of 

 the fresh waters of the same geographical region. The extraordinary 

 position of the vent, before the ventrals (as occurs again in Ambh/- 

 opsis), and the number of the rays of the ventrals demand the for- 

 mation of a separate family for this fish. 



Fam. 4. APHREDODERIDiE. 



Form of the body oblong ; eyes lateral ; cleft of the mouth ex- 

 tending on to the sides of the muzzle ; vent jugular, before the ventrals. 

 Villiform teeth in both the jaws and on the palate. Six branchio- 

 stcgals. Some of the bones of the skull anned. Scales ctenoid. 

 Ventral fins thoracic, vrith more than five soft rays. One single 

 dorsal, -with, the spinous portion Httle developed. Caeca pylorica in 

 moderate number. Air-bladder simple. 



Fresh waters of North America. 



One genus. 



1. APHREDOLERUS. 



Aphredoderus, (Lesueur) Ciiv. fy Val. ix. p. 445; Dekay, New York 

 Fauna, Fishes, p. 35. 



Cleft of the mouth slightly oblique, with the lower jaw longest ; 

 eye moderate. Villiform teeth in both the jaws, on the vomer and 

 on the palatine bones. Six branchiostegals. Infraorbital and pr»- 

 operciilum -with spinous teeth. Sca;les moderate, ctenoid. Dorsal with 

 three, anal ^vith two spines. Caudalis rounded. Pseudobranchia; ? 



Fresh waters of North America. 



1. Aphredoderus sayanus. 



Scolopsis sayanus, Gilliams, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. Plnlad. iv. p. 81. pi. 3. 

 Aphredoderus gibbosus, {Lesueur') Our. l^- Val. ix. p. 448. pi. 278. 



sayanus, Dekat/, New York Fauna, Fishes, p. 35. pi. 21. f. G2 ; 



Baird, Ninth Smithsonian Report, p. 326. 



D. l^. A. |-. L. lat. 45-50. Ctcc. pylor. 12. 



The height of the body is 41 in the total length, of which the head 

 is one-foiu'th ; the diameter of the eye is less than the distance from 

 the end of the snout, and two-thirds of the distance between the 

 eyes. The maxillary bone extends beyond the vertical fi'om the 

 anterior margin of the eye ; the distance of the anus from the snout 

 is equal to one-fifth of the total length ; caudaUs roiuided. Greenish 

 olive ; a vertical spot beneath the eye. 



Harrowgate, near Philadelphia ; Lake Pont Chartrain. ilany 

 streams on th(> Atlantic coast. 



a. Adult : skin. United States. From Dr. PanieU's Collection. 



