344 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



with the anterior margin of tlie nasal bones. In the 

 Exocoetifonnes, on the other liand, the maxillary bones 

 lie free and mobile, in their ordinary position behind the 

 intermaxillary bones, each of whicli articulates by means 

 of a very short nasal process with the anterior end of the 

 ethmoid bone, being thus to a certain extent protrusile, 

 though generally only slight! j' so. This difference may 



also lie expi'essed bv Bonapartk's arrangement of these 

 forms in two subfamilies, Belm/u/i and Exocoetini, though 

 he based the deiinitioii of these subfamilies only on the 

 greater or less elongation of the jjcctoi-al fins, a clia- 

 racter which is rendered untenable by the intermediate 

 forms. Like Bonapakte, though on different grounds, 

 we, therefore, divide these fishes into t^vo subfamilies. 



Sl-cfamily KELONINiE. 



Tntcnn((.iUl(trji bancs, irl/irJi iirc fiifircli/ ir'ithoiif lijis, ti)iiili/ iiuifcil to caeJt atJicr (uitl to flic uia.rillaii/ //o»c.s, and 

 iirt/ci(Jaliiif/ hij means of a broad cdi/c iritli the anterior viart/in of flic nasal bones. Lower jair {and often the 



upper Jan: as n'efl) clonf/atcil info a ticak or sn'ord. 



The Scandinavian fauna contains two species be- i -^^ ^nly one dorsal and one anal iin; no 



1 • . .1 • 1 r -1 1 r xi J.- (inlets behind them Genus Rininihistoma. 



longing to this subramily, each ot them reijresenting i „ „ ,.,.,-, r- i i i • , , , , 

 '^ _^ ■' ^ ° \ B: Several (6—8) finlets behind the dorsal 



a distinct genus: I f^n ^g well as the anal Genus Scuinbreso.r. 



Genus RAMPHISTOMA. 



Botli jairs {the under one most so) eJonqated Into a lon(/, narroir Ijcal; armed n-ifh scattered, larr/c teeth and more 

 dosehi-set small teeth between the former. Bodi/ lone/, eel-lihe and covered irith smcdl scales. No fnlets behind 



the dorsid or the anal tin. 



Klein, who in 1744 gave this genus the name of 

 Mctstacembchis" , which was afterwards adopted by ]5lee- 

 KEK, Avas indeed the first to define and characterize it. 

 However, this name is older than the s^'stem of nomen- 

 clature now in vogue (Klein did not recognise tlie 

 Linntean binomial nomenclature), and (Ikoxovus and, 

 after liis time, Cuvier and Valenciennes ha\e given 

 it an entirel}' different a])plication in ichthyology, a i 

 circumstance wiiich might easily lead to confusion. As 

 we arc, therefore, debarred from recognising this generic '\ 

 name, the only course left for us is to ado])t the old- 

 est binomial name proposed for the genus, \vhich was ; 

 estal)lished by Rafinesque in 1815, and afterwards 1 

 adopted by Swainson''. Belone, the name proposed by 

 CuviEH'', is more widely known, but two years younger; 



and may, therefore, with justice reassurae its original 

 signification as a Liniuean specific name. 



Bamphlstoma', the genus of the Garpikes, contains 

 about .50 species recognised up to the present; and its 

 geographical range extends all round the world between 

 the polar circles, some of the species also occurring in 

 fresh Avater in India, and Brazil. They are well-known 

 enough, jiartlv on account of their long, narrow beak, 

 their eel-shaped, but rather quadrangular body, their 

 winding motions, wliich also remind us of the Eels, 

 their mackerel-like coloration, and partly on account 

 of the green colour of their bones, which in many 

 places has caused them to be suspected of being poi- 

 sonous''. No grounds, however, have been given for 

 this suspicion; and in many places these fishes are much 



" Hist. PIsc. Miss. 4, p. 21. 



' Nat. Hist. FisJi., Ampli., Eept., vol. I, p. 296 .and vol. II. p. 187. 



'-' Regne Animal, edit. 1, torn. II, p. 186. 



'' QCtf-KpOg:, ficdfc anil tfff'/fft, nunttli. 



*■ In his report of the fish and fisheries of New South Wales (p. 83) Tenison-Woohs mentions "one or two doublful cases" of this 

 poisoning. See also LrrruE and RoniN, Pict. l\fedic. art. Vcne'nenx. Kroyeu also states that in his time the same belief in the poisonous 

 jiropcrties uf the fiesli of the (jarpike was enirent among the jiopulace at certain spots on tiie west coast of Norway. 



