246 



Classifica- 

 tion — Ma- 

 lacopteri. 



ICHTHYOLOGY. 



Pre-m axillary teeth narrow, f Cithakinus, sp. 1 _ Curimatns. Pyloric ca!ca very numerous, so as to deter one from 



round | Chilodus, JNI. J ' counting them. Thirteen species. 



Pre-maxillary teeth narrow, co- 1 TT,,TjnncYON ' '^" <JENUS VII. Citharinus, Cuv. (Including f'/ii7o(7m, Miill.) IJody 



nical J j~ ' elevated, compressed, rhomboidal ; mouth horizontal at the extre- 



Dorsal not opposed to the ventrah. mity of the head, the upper arch of the orifice almost entirely formed 



Dorsal before the anal CiTHARINtis 7. hy the pre-maxillaries, the maxillaries lying behind, but covering 



Dorsal above the anal PlAEUCA 8. the corner of the mouth; teeth extremely small, implanted in the 



Teeth ehftuhere pluriserial. lips, and resembling hairs; none within the mouth. Two species, 



Dorsal above the ventrals. JJile. 



Teeth feeble, slender ; labial ones M- f PAcn 1 - Genus VIII. PiABUCA, C'uv. Salmonoids, with uniserial, tren- 



serial I Prochilodcs J ' chant, and compressed teeth, denticulated on the cutting edge, im- 



Teeth firm, fissured, biserial, DisTiCHODUS 15. planted in the lip, and very moveable, the row corresponding to the 



_ , , . . , f EpiOYRTUS.sp.V. 1 o pre-maxillaries and mandible. It comprises the SchistuJons of 



Teeth large ; anterior ones corneal... | ^^op^N ) ^- Agassiz and Muller. Three species. 



Dorsal between the ventrals and anal. Genus IX. IIe.miodus, Mull. Small labial teeth, implanted 



Teeth conical, triserial above, biserial ) a.T.,,Nn ■" f^^ose to one another in a row on the upper lip; the pre-maxillary 



beloiv J ' ''' and maxillary teeth moveable to the touch like the keys of a piano. 



Teeth flat, pointed, triserial on the f Chaixeu.S, sp. 1 ,-,, There are none on the lower lip. Each tooth is compressed, 



mandible ( Brycon J" " rounded in front, with denticulated crown or disk. Pre-maxillarie3 



Teeth fiat, pointed, biserial above. very small and concealed beneath the lip. ilouth very small ; body 



Belly keeled ChaLCEUS 21. elongated ; belly rounded. Branchiostegals four to five. Two spe- 



Belly round .^ cies. 



■ • 1 / Tetragon- 1 11, Genus X. PlecogloSSus, Schl. Teeth on the pre-maxillary 



Mandibulars uniserial \ oPTEKUS J 12, 13. six; on each maxillary between the bone and the lip fourteen 



Mandibulars biserial Alestes 16. moveable ones in one row; they are somewhat compressed and 



Teeth present on the tongue. pointed ; a band of card-like teeth on each palatine, and the tongue 



Teeth on both jaius. also covered with teeth; three pockets formed by a membrane 



Palatine teeth, conical, uniserial ; 1 v,„„n„ „„„r,Q 1 on attached before the tongue. Branchiostegals four. 



canines J ^ifhobamphus j w. , (Jejjos XI. Tetkagonopterus, Artedi. Body elevated, rhom- 



Palatine teeth granular, crowded ; ca- I „ , on hoidal or orbicular, passing in some species into oval or lengthened 



nines J " " forms. Mouth small ; two rows of teeth in the upper jaw, one in 



Palatine teeth none • XiPHOSTOMA 32. the lower one. Twenty-one species. 



Teeth on the mandible; none on the up- ]„ „ Genus XII. BRY'CINus,Valenc. Separated from Tetragonopterus. 



per jaw J ° ' Body elongated as in C/iaiccws ; teeth crcnulatcd and standing close 



as in Tetraqonopterus. The interval between the two rows is 



Genos I. CURIMATCS, Valenc. Resembling the Graylings greater in the upper jaw, and a distinctive character exists in 



{Thymali) in the smallness of their mouth, and feeble dentition, the presence of a spur on the crown of the teeth, which resemble 



often wholly absent on the jaws. Mouth toothless; jaws with those of Chakeus, but may be readily distinguished; dorsal and 



trenchant edges, without lips, the superior one notched to receive anal high. Senegal. 



a symphysial tubercle of the mandible. Ascending branch of the Genus XIII. Piaeucina, Valenc. Separated from Tetragonop- 

 stomieh thick and muscular. Pyloric ca:ca numerous (amounting Ifras and Piafcitca, on account of a combination of characters ; body 

 to eighteen). Branchiostegals four. Species seven. elongated like Piabuca, with fixed crenulated teeth as in Tetra- 

 Genus II. Leporinus, Spi.x. Body elongated; belly rounded, ^onopleras, but differing from those of the latter in that the double 

 Mouth small ; lips fleshy ; teeth few in number on the pre-maxil- row is on the mandible ; on the upper jaw there is only one row. 

 laries and mandible ; the mesial pair above and below longer than One species resembling Erythrintis. Maracaibo. 

 the rest and almost horizontal. Pharyngeal teeth in transverse Genus XIV. Gasteropelecus, Pall., Gronov. Pre-maxillary 

 bands; each tooth having a long laterally compressed crown, ter- teeth in two rows, tricuspid; maxillary teeth conical, much pointed, 

 minating in two hooked points of unequal length. Branchial uniserial ; pharyngeal teeth viUiform, densely crowded. Body exces- 

 aperture small, from the union of the membrane to the scapula, sively compressed and high in the pectoral region. Dorsal far 

 Branchiostegals four. Pyloric ca;ca from ten to eighteen. These back. Gill-openings large ; branchiostegals four. Scales. In- 

 fish are vegetable feeders. Eight species. testine remarkably short ; seven pancreatic ca;ca. Surinam. 



Genus III. Epicyrtus, Wiill. Conical teeth on the pre-maxil- Genus XV. Distichodus, Miill. Teeth on both jaws in a 



laries and maxillaries, some of them projecting from the surface of double row ; small, close together, with a slightly compressed 



the jaw like the canines of some Labroids (CaiKoiiuii, for instance, forked crown. Body elongated and compressed, belly rounded; 



figure 56). Pyloric ca;ca, six or seven. Intestines short. Two caudals and adipose fin scaly like the rest of the body, naked only 



species, which include Exodon. at the border. Stomach long, ascending branch long and very 



Genus IV. Parodon, Valenc. Teeth planted in the walls muscular. Pyloric ca;ca numerous and elongated like small intes- 



of the upper lip, moveable and slightly curved, their crowns tines, extending along one side of the duodenum. A vegetable 



small triangular disks with denticulated edges ; mandibular teeth feeder. One species, the nefasch of the Arabs. 



on the side lips only, and not opposed to the pre-maxillary ones of Genus X\'I. Alestes, Mull. Pre-maxillary teeth in two rows, 



the upper jaw. Four branchiostegals. One species, unknown to those of the exterior row having three trenchant points, while in 



Muller. the interior row the crowns are more obtuse; but there are some 



Genus V. Salminus, Agass. Teeth in several rows on the jaws, projecting points among them ; no maxillary teeth; mandibular 



Body elongated like that of a Trout, and the mouth also similar, ex- teeth biserial, the disk channelled, with crenated crowns; behind 



cept that the tongue and roof of the mouth are smooth as in most the symphysial ones, some small conical ones; pharyngeal teeth 



Characins. Pre-maxillary teeth conical, in two rows ; one row on very small. Ten to fourteen pyloric cajca. Voracious insecti- 



the maxillaries ; mandibular teeth in two rows, and the interior vorous fishes. Air-bladder prolonged posteriorly on the right 



ones remarkable for their small size, their equality, and their oh- side of the interhjcmal spines, whereas in most other fishes when the 



lique insertion into the limbs of the jaw. Five species. air-bladder is extended back out of the abdomen it is forked, and 



a. M.Valenciennes forms a group of Prochilodus, Citharinus, sends a horn on each side of these bones. Three species. 



Hemiodiis, and Piabuca, which have the teeth curiously crenated. Genus XVII. Myletes, Cuv. Pre-maxillary teeth having 



and no denticulated keel to the belly, but with an adipose fin, as truncated crowns and standing in two rows ; for the most part 



in the other Salmonidce. there are only two conical teeth in the inner row behind the sym- 



Genus VI. PROcniLODUS, Agass. (PacM,Mull.) Mouth small, pro- pbysis, but in some species there are seven. The teeth are mostly 



tractile.situatedattheextremity of the head, and surrounded by very prismatic with rounded ribs, the crowns of the anterior row being 



thick lips, supporting under their edges a row of excessively small slender, cutting, and feebly denticulated; in the second row the 



teeth like hairs, which, when viewed under a lens of considerable posterior edge is more elevated, and the middle somewhat pointed, 



power, are seen to have a disk at the extremity, often denticulated or Body compressed; belly keeled and often strongly denticulated, 



crenated. Farther back towards the middle of the lips there is a First interneural of the dorsal lying horizontally, with its spinous 



second series of similar teeth in a crescent with the hollow towards point directed forwards. Intestines long ; ciecal stomach, with a 



the interior of the mouth. Body elongated and somewhat com- short, thick, pyloric branch. Vegetable feeders. Seventeen species, 



pressed, but dumpish like that of a Carp. Four branchiostegals. Genus XVIII. Tometes, Valenc. A row of pre-maxillary 



Ascending branch of the stomach fleshy, but not so much so as in teeth with sloping or chisel-formed cutting crowns like the hu- 



Classifica- 

 tion — Ma- 

 lacopteri. 



