ICHTHYOLOGY. 



257 



Arji'neio^us, which have a hony capsule to the swira-bladder, do to the 

 Silundm. This structure does not exist in nil the CyprinidcB allied 

 to Cohitis ; and in Schistura there is a thick-skinned swim-bladder 

 behind the enlargement of the vertebr*. Both JI. Agassiz and M. 

 Valenciennes restrict the genus Cobitis to the species which want 

 teeth. 



This great family, as now restricted, comprises fresh-water fishes 

 only. It contains a great number of species in all parts of the 

 world, and no one has as yet made a satisfactory arrangement of 

 them, and characterized the groups so that they can be easily dis- 

 tinguished. "We follow M. Valenciennes in the primary grouping. 

 Genus I, Cyprinos, Lacep, A long dorsal, with three stifl' pun- 

 gent rays, the third and longest one being often denticulated on its 

 hinder edge, resembling the rays of some Siluroids; anal with two 

 strong solid rays. The under pharyngeal teeth are five, one being 

 very large, with curved, seemingly concentric edges, and three 

 somewhat wavy parallel enamelled ridges, separated into two by a 

 longitudinal furrow : farther back on each side of this principal 

 tooth there are two others, not half as big, having flat and worn 

 crowns ; before the large mesial tooth there is another rounded one, 

 without eminences ; and behind all, a fifth very small tooth. This 

 is tlie dentition of the Ciiprinus carpio, or common Carp, but the 

 number of teeth varies with the species. Body thick, more or less 

 high, with fiat sides, and thick scales. One group {Cyp)rinus) has 

 small barbels at the corners of the mouth ; another wants them 

 {Citprinopsis, Fitzing.) Twenty species in the Histoire des Poissons. 

 Uenus II. Barbus, Flem. Body fusiform. Dorsal short, with 

 three small simple rays in front, and a fourth very strong one, like 

 that of Cupriiius, sometimes denticulated, in other species smooth ; 

 two barbels in front of the maxillary joint, and two labial ones 

 from the corners of the mouth ; four in all. Pharyngeal teeth coni- 

 cal, elongated, and a little curved. Sixty-two species, subdivided 

 by the smooth or denticulated rays, and the projecting or non- 

 elongated snout. 



Genus III. LAEEOBARBUS.Rupp. Body elongated. Lips thick, 

 the inferior one having a single symphysial thick barbel, making 

 five barbels in all, including the pair of maxillary, and pair of 

 labial ones. A firm ray not denticulated in the dorsal, and a short 

 anal. Three species. 



Genus IV. Schisotiiorax, Heck. Cyprinoids with a maxillary 

 and labial barbel on each side. Dorsal and anal short ; three dorsal 

 osseous rays, the third one denticulated. Scales small ; a cutaneous 

 fold on the posterior part of the belly, clothed with larger scales, 

 concealing the anus and greater part of the base of the anal, like a 

 slit sheath. Mouth various, giving rise to subdivisions founded on 

 its several kinds of form. Ten species. 



Genus V, Racoma, M'Clell, Differs from Sckisothorax in the 

 projecting maxillaries j the premaxillaries form a moveable append- 

 age to the mouth. 



Genus VI, Oreinus, M'Clell, Head fleshy; mouth vertical; 

 mandible shorter than the premaxillaries; snout muscular and 

 projecting. Dorsal preceded by a serrated ray. Scales small. In- 

 testinal tube five or six times as long as the body, capacious. 

 Mountain fish. 



Genus VII, Schisopyqe, Heck, Separated from Schisothorax, 

 by the acute cartilaginous-edged mandible, and the bony ray of 

 the dorsal, standing either before or above the ventrals. 



Genus VIII, Danoila, Valenc. Remarkable for the length of 

 the dorsal, without the anterior osseous ray, differing in the latter 

 character only from the dorsal of Gyprhiua : another peculiar cha- 

 rncter is the conical papillse on the border of the upper lip, resem- 

 bling small teeth ; a labial and a maxillary barbel on each side. 



Genus IX. Lobocheilos, Bleek. Between Labco and Barbus. 

 Border of the mouth threefold; lips smooth, not fringed, the inferior 

 one forming a square fleshy lobe ; snout prominent, fleshy. Four 

 maxillary and labial barbels. No toothed dorsal or anal spine. 

 Laheo falcifer, Cuv, and Valenc, and three others. 



Genus X. Crossociieilos, Bleek. Mouth inferior, with a three- 

 fold border, the orifice a parallelogram ; lips crenated or fimbriated 

 with papills; snout fleshy, very prominent, with two barbels. No 

 toothed dorsal or anal spine, Labeo oblongus, Cuv, and Valenc, 



Genus XI. Devario, Heck. Pharyngeal teeth knife-edged; 

 mouth subioferior ; lips round. Two barbels at the corners of the 

 mouth, or none. Dorsal and anal fins elongated, each with a 

 smooth osseous ray having a flexible tip. Intestine between four 

 and five times the length of the body. Seven species. 



Genus XII. Nuria, Valenc. Cyprinoids with the dorsal far 

 back like that of a Pike, short and without spines. No maxillary 

 barbels, but a pair of labial barbels at each corner of the mouth, 

 keeping up the number four, /Thin lips. Two species. 



Genus XIII, Roiiita, Valenc. Four barbels round the mouth; 



thick fleshy lips, with their edges fringed more or less. A tliick 



fold of skin inclosing the lips, forming above a sort of niuzzle ; and 



below a veil covering the closed mouth. Premaxillaries small, 



VOL. XII. 



and attached to beneath the point of the nasal, so that the mouth is Classlfica- 

 protracted like a cupping-glass. When the lips are retracted they tion Ma- 

 retire within the second lip or fold of skin. Intestinal canal very lacopteri. 

 long. Herbivorous. Twenty-three species, y j 



Genus XIV, C.4P0eta, Valenc, Intermediate between Barbus ^ 



and Gobio, and containing species with a barbel at each angle of 

 the mouth, or two in all; some with a denticulated ray in the dor- 

 sal; others with a solid ray, not denticulated; and a third group 

 again with the ray soft. 



Genus XV. Cirrhinus, Cuv. Maxillary barbels, two in all; 

 no labial ones. A moderate-sized dorsal without spines, all the 

 rays being flexible. Lips thin ; snout not elongated beyond the 

 mouth. 



Genus XVI. Gobio, Cuv. Dorsal and anal short, without spines. 

 Barbels labial, i.e., at the corners of the mouth. Pharyngeal teeth 

 conical, slightly curved at the tip, and in two rows. 



Genus X Vll. Tinca, Cuv. Thick and broad body, covered with 

 small scales, and a labial barbel at each side of the mouth. Pha- 

 ryngeal teeth clubbed. 



Genus XVlll. Labeo, Cuv. Snout thick and fleshy, projecting 

 over the mouth, which is furnished with triple lips, one emanating 

 from the preorbitar and extending over the two others, a second 

 from the maxillary, and a third the true lip below, detached so as 

 to make a mandibular velum ; a small barbel at the corner of the 

 maxillary. Anterior dorsal rays slender and simple, the others 

 branched and very flexible. The Labeos, therefore, are Cyprinoids, 

 with the dorsal of Oobio or Pinca, but with lips approaching those 

 of Rohita, and differing merely in their disposition. These fish 

 belong entirely to the old world. 



Heckel makes a group of the Cyprinoids which have these double 

 or triple rows of lips, which he names Pennockit<B ; and includes in 

 it the genera Labeo, Rohita, and three characterized by himself, 

 Pylognathus, Discognathus, and C'l/rene. 



The following genera want barbels. 



Genus XIX. Leuciscus, Valenc, The length of the anal has 

 been given as a distinctive character of Abramis, and its short- 

 ness of Leuciscus ; but M, Valenciennes, finding that there was an 

 imperceptible gradation in the length of this fin among the species, 

 ranges them all under Leuciscus, and considers generally as mere 

 specific characters those derived from the form of the pharyngeal 

 teeth by which Agassiz, Bonaparte, and Heckel have sought to de- 

 fine the numerous groups they have formed, Leuciscus is to be 

 known, then, chiefly by negative characters. Short dorsal without 

 spines ; anal short or long, also without spines, and no particular 

 conformation of the lips. In the Histoire des Poissons one hundred 

 and forty species are described in eleven groups. 



The following genera have been characterized by the authors 

 whose names are given, and Dr M'Clelland, in his account of the 

 Indian Cyprinidae, has named and described numerous groups, but 

 a revision of the entire family is needed before tlie proper places 

 of these proposed genera can be found. The Prince of Mu- 

 signano's Catalogo Metodico dci Cyprinidi cVEuropa may be con- 

 sulted with advantage by those who wish to master the arrange- 

 ment of the Cyprinoids. 



Genus XX. Gila, Baird and Girard. Body fusiform, com- 

 pressed, with the back more or less arched in the older fish. Head 

 depressed, uncommonly small, its upper profile concave ; snout 

 elongated ; no barbels. Pharyngeal teeth oblique, compressed in 

 two rows, hooked at the point. Four gills. 



Genus XXI. Chondrostoma, Agass. A horny cartilaginous 

 plate covering the lower lip, easily detached in dead fish, but leav- 

 ing the soft keel on which it was implanted. Some have labial 

 barbels, and others maxillary barbels, and there is much variety in 

 the pharyngeal dentition. Ten species. 



Genus XXll. Catla, Agass. Maxillaries dilated, and forming 

 thin laminae, which advance over the equally thin premaxillaries, 

 forming a snout shorter than the mandible, whose limbs are like- 

 wise so dilated as to encase one another, and give a prominent, 

 rounded form to the throat ; when depressed the lower jaw looks 

 like the bowl of a large spoon. The lower lips are thick and 

 fleshy, but without barbels ; and the branchial rakers are long and 

 hair-like, and very flexible, resembling the same organs of a Clu- 

 peoid rather than of a Cyprinoid. One species. 



Genus XXIII. Aspidoparia, Heck. Mouth small ; no barbels, 

 Suhorbitar scale-bones covering the cheek. Short base of the 

 dorsal fin standing over the interval between the ventrals and 

 longer anal ; ventrals with seven divided rays ; lateral line much 

 decurved. 



Genus XXIV. Catastomus, Porster, Lesu. Resembling the 

 European Barbel in general form, but having neither maxillary noi 

 labial barbels, and no bony or denticulated rays in the dorsal. Jlouth 

 under the snout, without teeth ; lips large, lobed, and variously 



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