The Soft-finned Teleostei 347 



morphological feature is the position of the pelvic fins. 

 These, in nearly all of the former, are well back from the 

 pectorals, that is they are abdominal in position, as con- 

 trasted with the thoracic or the jugular position of most 

 of them in the latter. A third morphological character 

 that deserves notice here, as being a somewhat helpful 

 guide toward ecological and distributional relations, is 

 the presence in most Malacopterygii and freshwater Acan- 

 thopterygii of a more or less well developed swim-bladder, 

 and the partial or complete absorption of it in those forms 

 that become marine, or that come to live in the highly oxy- 

 genated waters of tumbling alpine streams and rivers. 



Now it is a noteworthy fact that the members of the 

 more primitive groups of the ganoids have soft fin-rays, 

 have abdominal pelvic fins, and have a well-developed air- 

 bladder. These features persist most strongly in the 

 Malacopterygii, that are largely freshwater, as we hope to 

 prove below, and they become most altered or departed 

 from in the Acanthopterygii, that are mainly marine. Ac- 

 cordingly the writer proposes now to follow the classifica- 

 tion of older authors (2^5), as modified and utilized by 

 Boulenger (_v6 : XIII-XVII), and Goodrich (2^7). 



In commencing this study it may be worth while to draw 

 attention to the curious circumstance, that the S. American 

 and even to a large extent the N. American continents have 

 as yet furnished few "ganoid" representatives to the palae- 

 ontological list, while Europe mainly, Asia and Australia 

 to a less degree, and Africa still less have contributed their 

 quota. The writer hopes to show that this has an important 

 bearing on the subject of the distribution of teleosteans 

 in time and space. But it is unquestionably correct to say 

 that N. and S. America as well as Africa will in time furnish 

 lists that will more than equal those of Europe. The need- 

 ed workers who might demonstrate this are not yet forth- 

 coming, owing to want of support, and to the disgraceful 

 and semi-savage competitive and militaristic systems that 

 characterize "civilized" nations. 



The oldest teleost fishes probably date back to the Lower 

 Cretaceous, and are there represented by Spathodactylus 

 from the Neocomian of Voirons near Geneva, and Chirocen- 



