248 



ICHTHYOLOGY. 



Oiassifica- as in Gonostoma, but the dentition differs ; the teeth are slender 



tion — Ma- pointed, compressed, and curved, adhering to the bone, the mandi- 



lacopteri. bular ones being the largest; maxillary teeth arranged in a pec- 



^ J- -■_ ^ tinated manner on the edge of the bone, inclining backwards; 



palatine teeth shorter ; tongue armed on the sides with teeth ; 



pharyngeal teeth harrow-like. Branchiostegals fifteen to seventeen; 



pectoral fins attached low down; gill-openings large; dorsal far 



back, anal still more posterior, its last rays opposite to the thin 



adipose fin. Astronestkes niger, R., fig. 2, p. 132. 



Mr Ayres, in the Journal of the Boston N.H. Society for 1849, 

 describes a fish which sterns nearly allied to ChauUodus, but if the 

 symphysial mandibular barbel and branchiostegals have not been 

 overlooked, it can not be the same. The generic characters given 

 of it are as follows : — 



Genus XXXV'U. Malacosteus, Ayres. Scales small; mouth 

 very deeply cleft, its upper border chiefly formed by the maxil- 

 laries ; pre-maxillaries short; pre-maxillary and maxillary teeth 

 small, sharp pointed ; mandibular teeth very long, somewhat 

 curved, smaller ones behind them ; no teeth on the palatines, vomer, 

 or gill-arches ; a double row on the tongue; and a tuft on each 

 pharyngeal ; small fins ; dorsal far back over the anal ; gill-cover 

 membranouswithout ossification. and no branchiostegals perceptible. 

 All the bones unusually soft. One species, M. niger, found in the 

 North Atlantic. Could the bones have been softened by spoiled 

 spirits ? 



Genus XXXVIII. Aplochiton, Jenyns. Characterized by a 

 peculiar fold or longitudinal pouch in the integuments of the belly ; 

 wholly without scales; uniserial small teeth on both jaws; two 

 rows on the tongue and vomer ; none on the palatines ; branchio- 

 stegals three. Elongated form of a Grayling, but thicker. Magel- 

 lan's Straits. 



The last six genera are scarcely members of this family. 



Family VI.— SCOPELIDiE. 



Scopelini, MiiU. ; Sauridce, Valenc. Scaly or scaleless fishes 

 with an adipose fin, whose mouth is bounded above from corner to 

 corner by the pre-maxillary, the maxillary lying behind; acces- 

 sory gills. Swim-bladder absent inmost. Gi^nus Aulopus, Cuv. ; 

 Saurus, Cuv. ; Scopelus, Cuv. ; Maurolicus, Cocco ; Ichthyococcus^ 

 Bonap. ; Chloropthabius, Bonap. ; Odontostomus, Cocco; Paralepis, 

 Risso ; Sadis, Raf. not Cuv.; Sternoptyx, Herm. ; Argyropelecus, 

 Cocco. 



They are separated from the SalmonidoB by the structure of the 

 mouth, and by the ova being discharged by a proper canal, and not 

 falling into the general cavity of the abdomen. The maxillariesin 

 some genera approach the corner of the mouth, and form a portion 

 of its orifice, and in Argyropelecus they are formed of three pieces, 

 one of which is dentiferous. This genus and Sternoptyx belong, by 

 the structure of the mouth, to the Characinidce. 



Genus I. Argyropelecus, Coc. Body greatly compressed, 

 high, with an irregular polygonal outline ; tail narrow at its com- 

 mencement, and generally very thin near the caudal fin ; mouth 

 nearly vertical, formed above by the pre-raaxillaries and maxillaries, 

 the latter in some species occupying but a small part of its orifice, 

 in others nearly the whole upper half ; maxillary composed of three 

 pieces, one of them dentiferous ; curved, unequal teeth on the jaws ; 

 smaller ones on the palatines; branchiostegals nine; the scapular 

 chain of bones largely developed ; thin nuchal osseous crest ; four 

 pancreatic caeca. Four species. 



Genus II. Sternoptyx, Ilerm. Body high, compressed, 

 with long ribs seen through the silvery integument ; mouth cleft 

 almost vertically, bordered above with very short pre-maxillaries, 

 and on the sides by the maxillaries, as in Salmo or Salar ; pluriserial 

 teeth on the jaws, the shorter ones placed in an exterior row, and the 

 larger ones more interiorly ; palatines armed with two or three 

 longer curved teeth anteriorly ; vomer edentate ; branchial arches 

 and inferior pharyngeals rough with small teeth, but the extremity 

 of the tongue smooth. The dentition of the jaws is like that of 

 Saurus, and the palatine teeth resemble those of ChauUodus. Gill- 

 openings wide; branchiostegals five, of different forms ; coracoid 

 bones forming a keel with an anterior point under the throat ; 

 pubic bones also having a sharp point ; a triangular osseous crest 

 before the dorsal, with one large projecting spinous point. Adipose 

 fin pretty long. One species. 



Genus III. Odontostomus, Coc. Upper half of the mouth 

 formed entirely by the pre-maxillaries which carry the teeth, the 

 maxillary lying posteriorly and being toothless; mandible, pala- 

 tines, and chevron of the vomer armed with moveable teeth, which 

 rise by their elasticity when pressed down ; no teeth on the tongue; 

 eye large, with an adipose fold. One species. 



Genus IV. Scopelus, Cuv. {Myctophum, MauroUcu*^ Lam- 

 panyctus, Bonap. Upper half of the mouth bordered by the 

 pre-maxillary, the toothless maxillary supporting it behind; teeth 

 of the jaws small, and differing little in size ; on the palatines the 



teeth are minutely raduliform; no teeth on vomer, in which the 

 genus differs from Odontostomus. Twenty species. 



Genus V. Saurus, Cuv. Elongated body, wide mouth, long, 

 rounded pre-maxillaries, ending in a poiut; the toothless styloid 

 maxillary being hidden under the integuments. Teeth numerous, 

 conical, somewhat curved, and often with a hastate or barbed point, 

 forming harrow-like bands on the jaws, the palatines, tongue, and 

 pharyngeals; the small teeth being in the exterior ranks, and the 

 larger ones interiorly. First rays of the ventrals shorter than the 

 posterior ones, as in Platycephalus and Callionymus, and also in the 

 united ventrals of Gobius. Branchiostegals sixteen ; sub-operculum 

 large, also frequently the inter-operculum. Cascal stomach large, 

 with a short pyloric branch ; pancreatic cjeca few. Ovaries in a 

 shut sac. No air-bladder. Seven species. 



Genus VI. Sauriua, Valenc. Difi*er from Saurus in having 

 an internal band of acute teeth surrounded by minute ones, as well 

 as the band of longer palatine teeth which Saurus possesses ; inter- 

 nal ventral rays not so much prolonged as la that genus. Two 

 species. 



Genus VII. Farionella, Valenc. Resembling a Trout. Dor- 

 sal standing over the space between the ventrals and anal ; an 

 adipose fin above the end of the anal ; caudal small. Upper hitlf of 

 the moderate-sized orifice of the mouth formed by the pre-maxil- 

 laries, the very small toothless maxillary lying behind. Teeth simple 

 and conical on the pre-maxillaries, palatines, and mandibular, also 

 along each side of the tongue. One species. 



Genus VIII. Aulopus, Cuv. Maxillary dilated posteriorly, 

 with supplementary pieces, but bordered in front by the pre-max- 

 illaries, which form the upper border of the mouth. Teeth small, 

 crowded, nearly of equal size, forming a narrow band on both jaws, 

 on the palatines, and on the chevron of the vomer; two dental plates 

 of very fine teeth on the entopterygoids, and the pharyngeals above 

 and below bristle with pretty strong heckle-formed teeth. Large 

 gill-openings. Bones of the head cavernous, with spinous points 

 on the hinder part. Thick jointed inferior rays on the pectoral, as 

 in some Sclerogenidw, with which in other respects the genus pre- 

 sents many analogies. It has also somewhat of the external aspect 

 of a Gadus, but is allied more closely to Saurus by dentition, and 

 the presence of an adipose fin. Two species. 



Genus IX. Paralepis, Risso. (Sudis, Rafin.) Malacoptery- 

 gian abdominal fish, with an adipose fin, slender fusiform bodies, 

 elongated jaws, and the upper half of the orifice of the mouth 

 formed by the pre-maxillaries, which pass before the maxillaries. 

 Dorsal and ventrals opposite to each other and very far back : adi- 

 pose fin radiated, but the rays not articulated like true rays. Teeth 

 trenchant, much like those of Sphyrmna. In the Ilist. des Poiss. 

 the first dorsal was considered to be spinous, but Reinhardt has 

 shown that its rays are articulated, and Mtiller assigns it a position 

 among the Scopdinidos. 



Genus X. Alepisaurus, Lowe. Body elongated, tapering, 

 much compressed, acute-edged posteriorly above and below. Jaws 

 elongated, with a wide mouth, which is bordered above from corner 

 to corner by the pre-maxillaries, armed with small subulate teeth ; 

 lanceolate teeth on the palatines and sides of the mandible, with 

 long subulate ones on the fore part of the latter bone. The den- 

 tition has much resemblance to that of Sphyrcena or Lcpidopus^ and 

 the bones have great similarity in structure to those of the Scorn- 

 beridcB. No teeth on the vomer. A long anterior dorsal extending 

 backwards from the nape ; posterior one adipose; ventrals abdomi- 

 nal. Neither air-bladder nor pyloric coBCa. Lowe. Three species 

 in the Atlantic and Australian seas. 



Family VII.— GALAXID/E. 



Shape of a Trout, but with no adipose fin, and the dorsal far back. 

 No scales. Moderate-sized, uniserial pointed teeth on the pre-max- 

 illaries and mandible, sometimes three canines at the curve of the 

 latter; stronger curved styloid teeth in one row on the palatines 

 and each side of the tongue ; pre-maxillaries not reaching the corner 

 of the mouth, but the maxillary is excluded from the edge of the 

 orifice by the thick lip. Inhabit fresh waters in Australia, Van 

 Diemen's Land, New Zealand, the Falklands, and Patagonia, where 

 they represent the Trouts. 



Genus I. Galaxias, Cuv. Seven species. 



HYODONTS. 



Tliis small family group wa5 instituted by M. Valen- 

 ciennes to comprehend three genera, which have the greatly 

 compressed sides of the Herrings, but not the serratures on 

 the lower ahre of the belly exhibited by all the typical 

 members of that family : the presence of pancreatic caeca se- 

 parates tliem from Chirocentrus with which they would 



Classifica- 

 tion — Ma- 

 lacopteri. 



