478 notopteridjK. 



Fam. 24. NOTOPTERID^. 



Notopteres, Cuv. ^- Val. xix. p. 129. 



Head and body scaly; barbels none. Margin of 

 the upper jaw formed by the intermaxillaries mesially, 

 and by the mamillaries laterally. Opercular apparatus 

 incomplete. Tail prolonged, tapering. Adipose fin 

 none. Dorsal short, belonging to the caudal portion 

 of the vertebral column; anal very long. Stomach 

 without blind sac ; two pyloric appendages. Pseudo- 

 branchioe none ; air-bladder present, divided in the 

 interior. The ova fall into the cavity of the abdomen 

 before exclusion. On each side a parieto-mastoid 

 cavity leading into the interior of the skull. 



Fresh waters of the East Indies and West Africa. 



1. NOTOPTERUS. 



Notopterus, sp., Lacep. ii. p. 189. 

 Notopterus, Cuv. Sf Val. xxi. p. 119. 



Body much compressed, tail elongate and tapering. Ahdomen 

 with a double serrature. Scales very small, lateral line distinct; 

 system of the muciferous channels of the head well developed. Snout 

 obtuse, convex ; cleft of the mouth of moderate width, lateral. 

 Maxillary articulated to the intermaxillary, and formed of a single 

 bone. Both jaws with a narrow band or series of small teeth, un- 

 equal in size ; bands of teeth on the vomer, palatine, and pteiygoid 

 bones, and on the sphenoid ; two series of teeth on the tongue. 

 Some of the bones of the head, especially the lower limb of the pro3- 

 operculum, serrated. Anal fin extremely long, and united with the 

 caudal. Dorsal fin very short, in the middle of the length of the fish, 

 or entirely absent. Ventral fins none, or rudimcntal, united, imme- 

 diately before the vent. Gill-membranes partly united, with 6-9 

 branciiiosteguls. Air-bladder with several divisions in its interior' 

 and terminating in two horns anteriorly and posteriorly, the anterior 

 horns being in immediate connexion with the auditory organ. Sub- 

 operculum absent. 



Fresh waters of the East Indies and of West Africa, 



Valenciennes (?. c.) has given a most excellent description of the 

 anatomy of this genus. 



We divide this genus into two very well-marked subgenera, which 



