Davis—On the Fossil Fishes of the Chalk of Mount Lebanon. 519 
of the family of the Percoides, nearly related to the genus Beryx, but separated 
from it by the character of the vertebre, the dorsal fin, delicate scales, and the 
more attenuated head. The species of Pycnosterinx, named by Pictet and 
Humbert P. elongatus, appears to be also very nearly associated in generic 
characteristics with Homonotus, and it is possible that it may be found necessary 
to remove it to that genus. M. Pictet states (‘‘Nouv. Rech. sur les Poissons 
Fossiles du Mont Liban,” 1866, p. 43) that it was not without hesitation that 
he placed this species in the genus Pycnosterinx, on account of its elongated 
form differing from any other species before known; he also states on a previous 
page, that although the Percoides, the Chromides, and the Squammipennes are 
sufficiently distinct from each other at the present day, they were represented 
by types during the Cretaceous Epoch, which were evidently more nearly related 
to each other. 
Homonotus pulcher, Davis. 
(Bly xxy,, te: 3.) 
This beautiful little specimen measures 2°2 inches in length, exclusive of the 
tail, the latter being 0°7 of an inch. The head occupies 0:9 of an inch. The 
height immediately behind the occipital region is 0-9 of an inch; the peduncle 
of the tail is 0°25 of an inch. Its form is somewhat oblong, the head flattened 
on the top and more or less pointed at the snout. The several parts are well 
preserved ; the dorsal fin is situated on the posterior part of the fish, the anal 
one opposite to it. 
The head is more or less triangular in outline. The orbit is large, and 
situated on the upper part; the bones of the infra-orbital ring are strong, large, 
and enamelled. The maxillaries are extended backwards under the centre of the 
orbit; the mandibles are longer and thicker than the maxillaries; no teeth 
can be distinguished. An interval between the jaws and the operculi is occupied 
by scales. The opercular bones are long and narrow; in this specimen they 
do not exhibit any serrations on their posterior margins ; the superior post-orbital 
region is covered with scales. 
The spinal column is composed of twenty-eight vertebrae, sixteen of which 
are caudal. The vertebrae are small, higher than long. The ribs cannot be 
distinguished. The neural and hzmal spines appear to have been comparatively 
strong, and the dorsal and anal fins are supported by interspinous bones. 
The dorsal fin is large; its base extends 0°8 of an inch along the dorsal 
surface, and it is 0°8 of an inch behind the occipital portion of the head; it is 
nearly, if not quite, connected with the caudal fin. The longest anterior rays 
are spinous, 0°5 of an inch in length; several smaller closely-set spinous rays 
support the longer ones anteriorly ; posteriorly the rays, numbering in all about 
4B2 
