322 SIKENOIDEI, 



1. PROTOPTERUS. 



Protopterus, Owen. 



Rhinocryptis, Peters. 



Protomelus, Ho(/g, Ann. <§■ Maff. Nat. Hist. 1841, vii. p. 359. 



Pectoral and ventral filaments with a fringe containing rays. 

 Upper labial cartilage wdth a median pair r>f conical teeth. The 

 dental lamina of each jaw with some strong vertical ridges and 

 cusps. Three small branchial appendages above the small gill- 

 opening. Six branchial arches, with five intervening clefts. 



Tropical Africa. 



1. Protopterus annectens. 



Ijepidosiren annectens, Owen, Proc. Linn. Soc. 1889, p. 27, and Tj-ans. 

 Linn. Soc. 1841, xviii. p. '627 ; Milne-Edicards, Ann. Sc. Nat. 1840, 

 xiv. p. 159 ; Jardine, Ann. if Mag. Nat. Hist. 1841, vii. p. 21 ; 

 Melville, Report Brit. Assoc. 1847, p. 78 ; Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 

 1856, p. 342, taf. 11 ; Gulliver, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1802, p. lUl (blood- 

 corpuscles) ; Cohbold, Proc. Zool. Soc. 18G2, p. 120, taf. 13 (skull 

 witliout labial cartilage) ; McDonnell, Zeit^chr. Wiss. Zool. 1860, x. 

 p. 409 ; Baker, Albert Nyanza, p. 131 ; Giinth. in Petherick's Travels, 

 ii. p. 268*. 



Protopterus anguilliformis, Otvcn, I. c. ; Peters, Fisch. Mossamh. p. 3, 

 taf. 1. fig. 1. 



Rhinocryptis amphibia, Peters, Monatsher. Ah. Wiss. Berl. 1814, 

 p. 414, and Miillers Arch. Anat. 1845, p. 11, taf. 1-3. 



Protopterus annectens et rhinocryptis. Gray, Batrach. Grad. p. 62. 



aethiopicus, Ileckel, Sitzysher. Ah. M^iss, Wien, 1851, vii. p. 685. 



Scales in about sixteen longitudinal series on each side of the 

 body. About 36 pairs of ribs. 

 Tropical Africa. 



cu-h. Adult: stuffed, 34 inches long. West Africa. From the 



Crystal Palace Company, 

 c, d, e, f, g,h. Many adult and half- grown specimens. River 



Gambia. 

 i-l. Half-grown, enclosed in mud cases. Sierra Leone. Presented 



by Col. Hill, 

 m. Adult : stuffed. Nile. Purchased of M. Parzudaki. 

 n-o,p-q. Half-grown and young. Zanzibar. From Dr. Kirk's 



Collection. 

 r, s. Adult. Zambezi. From Dr. Kirk's Collection. 



2. LEPIDOSIREN. 



Lepidosiren, Fitzinger. 



Amphibichthys, Hogg, Ann. Sf Mag. Nut. Hist. 1841, p. 362. 



Pectoral and ventral filaments \vithout fringe. Upper labial carr 

 tilage with a median pair of conical teeth. The dental lamina of 

 each jaw with strong cusps supported by vertical ridges. No ex- 



* The first discoverer of Protopterus in the Nile was not Sir o. Ajaner, as I 

 previously believed, but Dr. Knoblecher (see Hefkel, /. <•.). 



