APHREDODERIDJi. 271 



Before we proceed to the family of the Pristipomatidce, which con- 

 tain fishes with the habit and many of the characters of the Percidc^, 

 and which enter into a nearly continuous series with our last genera 

 {Odontonectes, Dules), we are obliged to intercalate a fish, which we 

 dare not remove very far from Pomotis, Centrarchns, and Bryttus — 

 fishes with a similar structure 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 Ambly- 

 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- 

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

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

 dorsal, with the spinous portion little developed. Caeca pylorica in 

 moderate number. Air-bladder simple. 



Fresh waters of North America. 



One genus. 



1. APHREDODERUS. 



Aphredoderus, {Lesumr) Cuv. Sf Val. ix. p. 446; Dekay, New York 

 Fauna, Fishes, p. 35. 



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

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

 on the palatine bones. Six branchiostegals. Infraorbital and pra)- 

 operculum with spinous teeth. Scales moderate, ^tenoid. Dorsal with 

 three, anal with two spines. Caudalis rounded. Pseudobranchiae ? 



Fresh waters of North America. 



1. Aphredoderus sayanus. 



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

 Aphredoderus gibbosus, {Lesneur) Cuv. 8f Val. ix. p. 448. pi. 278. 



sayanus, Dekay, New York Fauna, Fishes, p. 35. pi. 21. f. 62 ; 



JSaird, Ninth Smithsonian Report, p. 326. 



D. l^. A. |-. L. lat. 45-50. C«c. pylor. 12. 



The height of the body is 4i in the total length, of which the head 

 is one-fourth ; 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 from the 

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

 is equal to one-fifth of the total length ; caudalis rounded. Greenish 

 olive ; a vertical spot beneath the eye. 



Harrowgate, near Philadelphia ; Lake Pont Chartrain. Many 

 streams on the Atlantic coast. 



a. Adult; skin. United States. J? rom Dr. Pamcll's Collection. 



