MALACi>rrEI!Vni.\NS. 



;ui 



in'nwtli ill Miii/il ((i/iilii, tn jikIu'c Ii\ till' spcci iiiciis wliicli li;is liccii kiiiillv Iciil lis tor cNiimiiiiitioii 1)\ I'ro- 

 licforc us". Ill ilic Kith ri'l;iti<iii we ii^iiiiii find :\ cliii- i fessui' ('oi.uri r, wcliiid ^fvcriil exceptional peculiarities, 



r.'iclcr 111' Miif/il ((iji'ilti: luit here the lurni-series toilows e. li'. the iiiiusiiMlly suiall ej'cs'' iiiid the irrcat depth of 



(he rhaiiucs nl' i^iMwlli which appM rciilh' affect Mi(f/il ihc ImkIn ', deviations which are prohahly, li<iwcver, 



aitnitiis. Ill (he iii'xl ioiir relations ( 1 7 to 'iO iiiciusixe) only iiidix i(hiMl. 



is expressed the iikjsI disliiiclivc chnraclei' of (lie last- The <jeo<.M'apirK;il raii;i'e of th<' (iray Mullet, ac- 



iiieiitioiied species. cordiiiL;' to Dav, extciiils tis far south in the Atlantic 



The <ir,i\ Midh'i is mie of ihe rarest visitors to as the ('ape of (Jood llojie. In the Xcn-th Sea it is 

 the ScMndin;i\ i;in fauna. Kuovi.i; and I'smakk alone ' said to lie rare, hut .ill the more cdniinon farther south, 

 have each reeeixcd one sjieciiiien. Ilolli these speoiinens 

 were oi nhout tlu? same size, measuring' about 4 dcm. 

 in length to the end of the lohes of the ciiudal tin, ;ind 

 were cnimht oil' the south const of XorwaA'. The fornun- 



In the countries honleriiiL; <ni the Mediterranean, and 

 e\en on the west cixist of I ranee and the .south eoa.st 

 of Kniil.-ind, it ]irol)al)l\ enters fresh water more fre- 

 quenth than ;iii\- other species of the genus. In Al- 



writer received his s|iecimen from (Tiristiania i'jord'', [ fliers, according;- to Guicmenot, it a.scends all the rivers, 

 the latter from I'la-kke fjord. In the latter specimen, it is al.so known in the lakes of Tunis ami in the Nile. 



Here end the .\canthopter\u'ian I>leiitliero.L:n:ites 

 that lielonii' to the Scandin:i\ ian fauna: the followinif 

 forms are soft-tinned, M((lii(<)ptcri/(/li. generally witiiout 

 sjiinous ra\s and with onh' articulated rays, both in 

 the vertical and the ventral tins. As in the preceding 

 Eleutherognates, we have liere too, to distinguish be- 

 tween Pilar vngognates and Lysiphar\ngians, and liere, 

 as there,' wt' set the Pharyngognates first, though in 

 one of the pcjints most characteristic in other cases the_y 

 bear traces of the lower stages of dexelojimeut of the 

 Teleosteous type. In tin- Pharyngoguate Malacoptery- 

 ,irians, though the ventral fins are furnished with the 

 number of ravs tvpical of the Phv.soelysts (ti), they are 

 set far back or abdominal, and the ])elvie bones bear, 



at the hind outei- corner, an erect ])rocess, the Ganoid 

 nature of which we can more easily realise by com- 

 paring it with the analogous sfi-ucture in the Stickle- 

 backs (ditstcfiistchlif). Furtherniore, on account of the 

 ])osition of the \cntral fins, the Pharyngognate Mala- 

 co|iter\giiins li;i\e iisiiiilK' been ranged lo\v down in 

 the sv.stem, beside tiie Pikes an<l other Physo.stoms. 

 lint ;iparr from their closed air-bl;idder. which gives 

 them a ])lace among the Phy.socly.sts, they show such 

 close re.semblance to the (irnv Mullets that for the sake 

 of this connexion we allow the above-mentioned morpho- 

 logical reason — the higher degree of metamorphosis 

 expressed by the coalescence of the lower pharyngeals 

 — to decide their place in the system. 



" We must rcninrl;, liowever, lliiit in eslimaling tlic above avernge we could gain access to no young specimen of Miijil <A(7.>: and 

 il is by no means unusual lliat tlie relations whicli exist during youtli, are reversed in older specimens. 



'• That KaoYEli's specimen really belonged lo this species, is shown by the measurements he has given. According to these the length 

 of the base of the second dorsal fin was .35 ". of the length of the head and 74 % of the length of the base of the anal fin, which was 

 11 •', of the length of the body measured to the end of the middle rays of the caud.il tin. The length of the head was 51 % of the distance 

 between (he tirst dorsal fin and the tip of the snout. 



'" Their diameter is only about 12 % .>f the total length of the head and 20 % of the length of the head behind the eyes, while in 

 other examples of this species, as well as of the other two, these jiroportions respectively decrease with age from about 10 •» to 17 or 16 •. 

 nn<l fn.m ?,?, or 34 % to 20 or 28 V 



'' The greatest ilepth of the body is 32' ., ', of the length thereof, while the highest i>riiportion reached hy this mea>nrenienl in other 

 specimens of Afiii/il capito, as well as in Miujil auratus, is only 20',, '•• 



