characteristic of the Plecostei are not found in the Teleostei* I found 

 that, contrary to Kishinouye 's theory, various teleostean fishes have these 

 vessels. Consequently I arrived at the conclusion that there was no longer 

 any reason for the setting up of this new Order on an equal rank with the 

 other Orders of the Teleostomi listed above „ In what follows I will give 

 a detailed exposition of my stand, 



Io An Outline of the Subcutaneous Blood Vessels of 

 the Plecostei as Described by Kishinouye 



Before showing that the subcutaneous vessels are not peculiar to the 

 Plecostei but are found in various teleostean fishes, it is necessary for 

 the purposes of the argument that I show just what it was that Kishinouye 

 was describing when he wrote about these vessels * Therefore I shall first- 

 quote selected passages from his paper in the Journal of the College of 

 Agriculture of the Tokyo Imperial University, Vol,, 8, No. 3, in order to 

 give a general account of these subcutaneous vessels » 



a» The Relation Between the Subcutaneous 

 Arteries and the Dorsal Aorta 



£±n English/ 



"The cutaneous arterial system consists of one or two large trunks 

 running near the lateral median line of the body, originating in the 

 pectoral region, behind the pharyngeal muscle from the dorsal aorta." 



bo The Subcutaneous Arteries of the Thunnidae 



^In English7 



"In the Thunnidae the cutaneous artery runs obliquely backward and 

 downward, passing behind the third ( Thunnus ) or fifth ( Parathunnus and 

 Neothunnus) rib, and reaches the surface of the body before the inter- 

 muscular bonej, attached above the root of the respective ribo Before 

 reaching the surface of the body each artery is split into tevo equal 

 branches, running dorsal and ventral to the lateral median line, nearly 

 parallel to each other „ They are united again in the caudal portion 

 by a transverse ran commissure, and the commissure is again united to 

 the dorsal aorta by a pair of horizontal segmental arteries ." 



Co The Subcutaneous Arteries of the Katsuwonidae 



^In English/ 



"In the Katsuwonidae, the cutaneous artery of the epaxial side 

 would be homologous to both the epaxial and hypaxial branches of the 

 cutaneous artery of the Thunnidae o The hypaxial cutaneous artery of 

 the Katsuwonidae is remarkably short and slender, it generally 

 originates in front of the epaxial artery p and takes a forward 

 direction, and after passing through the kidney turns backward ; 

 it is situated in a more ventral portion than the hypaxial branch 



