702 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



found it uuii-li inferior to the latter. Tiie flesh of oldei' 

 specimens is tougli and rank. "As the Sheatfisli has 

 no scales, says Holm, "the .lews are not allowed to cat 

 it — a privation which, in my opinion, they need not 

 regret. To render the flesh eatable, the fat must first 

 be boiled away, and the fish then boiled again in wine 

 and with plenty of spices to remove its nauseous flavour." 

 In Sweden, liowever, the Sheatfish is so seldom caught 

 that it is of little economical importance. To the fish- 

 mongers of Stockholm it seems to be almost unknown. 

 In Russia the case is different. From Astrachan for 

 example, according to Grimm, about I"/., million kilo- 

 grammes of salted Sheatfish are annually exported. In 

 1881 three-fifths of this quantity was taken in the River 



Koora and one-fifth in the Black Sea. The total annual 

 catch of Sheatfish in the Black and Caspian Seas, in- 

 cluding the nearest parts of the Russian rivers that flow 

 into them, is estimated by Guimm at 4^5 million kgm. 

 of flesh and 16,000 kgm. of fish-glue, the latter manu- 

 factured from the air-bladder. This is a tough glue, but 

 inferior to (mcjre impure than) genuine isinglass. The 

 skin of the Sheatfish is used by the Russians and Tar- 

 tars to glaze their windo^v•s; and they boil down the 

 fat into lamp-oil (Pallas). 



The usefulness of the Sheatfish is counterbalanced 

 by the damage caused by its voracity, and Day con- 

 gratulates his country on the failure of the attempts to 

 introduce the Sheatfish into England. 



CTPEINOMORPHI. 



rJii/sostnme.s irith the shonlder-rjirdJe {ns usual lunoufi the Telcosfs) siis2)eiidcd to the head. Coracosedpnlar disk 

 strengthened internally by an arch formed by a special bone (as prcecnracoideiim) from the coracoid .bone to the 

 clavicle or the upper (anterior) margin of the scapula. The first four abdominal rertehrce deviating more or less 

 distinctly from the normal vertebral form, and partly metamorphosed into so-called acoustic bones. Hyomandihular 

 and pterygo-palatine arches as well as the opercular apparatus complete. Maxillary bones fully developed. No 

 jair-teeth. Body naked or covered with cycloid scales. Head generally naked, at least on the sides and snout". 



This series of families was established, as we have ' to this that the Salmon-Carps, like the Salmons, have 



mentioned above, by Cope under the name of Flecto- 

 spondyli, but according to his definition thereof is far 

 less natural than the preceding series. On the one hand 

 it includes in his works the so-called Salmon-Carps 

 {Characinidce), inhabitants of the tropical regions of 

 Africa and America,, with the posterior part of the edge 

 of the mouth formed, as in the Salmonidoi, by the ma- 

 xillary bones and, in the great majority of the genera, 

 with an adipose fin on the posterior part of the dorsal 

 margin, as in the Salmons. On the other hand the series 

 excludes the so-called Toothed Carps (Cyprinodonfidce), 

 a tropical and subtropical Carp-like family ^vith range 



well-developed pyloric appendages, while the Toothed 

 Carps, like the Carp-fishes, are destitute thereof, Ave 

 have sufficient anatomical grounds for bi'eaking up the 

 series Plectospondyli. The series then accpiires, with the 

 above characters, the same limitation as Glntheks fa- 

 mily Cyprinidfe, its members being restricted to the 

 chiefly Asiatic Loach-fishes [Cobitidce) and Stone Carps 

 {Homalopterido'), the Carp-fishes {Cyprrinidce) of the 

 Old World and North America, and the Suckers [Cato- 

 stomidce), chiefl}' from North America. All these fishes 

 have the edge of the mouth formed, at least for the 

 most part, by the intermaxillary bones, Avith the maxil- 



extending round the globe, destitute, it is ti'ue, of the I laries lying above and behind them, and «all are with- 



osseous connexion between the air-bladder and the sac- 

 cate extensions of the cranial cavity and also without 

 prajcoracoid bone, V)ut with the edge of the mouth 

 formed, as in the Carp-fishes, by the intermaxillaries 

 alone, though these bones, in contradistinction to those 

 of the Carp-fishes, are furnished Avith teeth. If we add 



out jaw-teeth. Only two of these families are re- 

 presented in the Scandinavian fauna. 



A: Air-bladder entirelv or partly enclosed in 



an osseous capsule; at least si.x barbels .. Fam. CohitiJa\ 

 B; Au'-blarlder without osseous capsule; at 



most four (or no) barbels Fani. Cyprinidw. 



" The genera Lepidocephaliis and Lepidocephalichthys, Cobitidce from India and Further India, are furnished, luiui 

 the sides of the head. See Bi.eeker, All. Ichth. Ind. Or., tome III, p. 12 and Day, Fish. Iiid., p. flOii. 



with scales on 



