XXII HAPLOMI 615 
Fam. 9. Chirothricidae.—Praemaxillaries delicate and styli- 
form, completely excluding the maxillaries from the upper border 
of the mouth ; jaws with feeble dentition or toothless; opercular 
apparatus complete. Praecaudal vertebrae with robust para- 
pophyses, to which ribs are attached. Ventral fins far forwards. 
These Fishes, of which three fossil genera are known from the 
Cretaceous of Germany and Syria, appear to be related to the 
Scopelidae, from which the strong parapophyses distinguish them. 
Chirothriz is remarkable for its excessively enlarged ventral fins 
with about 17 rays; these fins were taken for the pectorals by 
Ma 
A MMI 
EAT TTL ES 
MXM RES 
Vr Nine = SS S== 
S 
Fic. 373.—Chirothrix libanicus, restored by A. S. Woodward. 
the early describers. In Zelepholis and Hxocoetoides, the ventral 
fins are smaller than the pectorals, and formed of 7 or 8 rays only ; 
the dorsal region, in the former, is protected by a covering of 
small, thin, rounded or polygonal dermal scutes, each bearing a 
median tubercle. 
Fam. 10. Kneriidae—Margin of the upper jaw formed by 
the praemaxillaries; mouth toothless, not protractile. Parietals 
separated by the supraoccipital. Pharyngeal bones toothless. 
Praecaudal vertebrae with parapophyses. Body covered with 
small scales. Ventrals with 9 rays. No adipose dorsal fin. 
Air-bladder present. 
