616 Davis—On the Fossil Fishes of the Chalk of Mount Lebanon. 
fourteen or fifteen. The anterior rays are strongest, and supported by propor- 
tionately large interneural spines. 
The anal fin is comparatively small, its base extending 1:0 inch; it consisted 
of about twenty short and fine fin-rays. The caudal fin is of moderate size and 
forked; each lobe is supported by nine or ten strong articulated rays, which 
become subdivided by repeated bifurcation towards their distal extremities. ‘The 
outer rays of both the upper and lower lobes are supported by short imbricating 
rudimentary rays. 
The pectoral fins are large and well developed. The number of rays in each 
is ten to twelve, the anterior ones 1:25 inch in length; they are situated in close 
apposition on the abdominal surface of the body. The ventral fins are not well 
defined on any of the specimens; they appear to have been comparatively small, 
supported by a triangular and flattened internal bone. 
The scales are thin; the exposed posterior surface is circular and smooth in 
outline ; their diameter is 0-1 inch on the dorsal portion of the fish. The scales 
on the ventral surface are slightly smaller and more or less elongated, parallel 
with the lateral line. Between the head and the peduncle of the tail there are 
about seventy rows of scales, and the transverse series numbers twenty-four. 
This species presents several features which distinguish it from others already 
described. Its large size cannot of itself be considered of much importance ; its 
most peculiar characters are those of the teeth, the vertebral column, and the 
position of the fins. The large laniary teeth, with intermediate small ones, few 
in number, and separated by rather wide intervals, distinguish this species from 
R. robustus, in which the larger teeth are more widely separated, and have twelve 
or fourteen small ones between each. R. robustus also differs in possessing only 
thirty-six to thirty-eight vertebra, whilst this species has forty-eight. 
From Rhinellus curtirostris this species is readily distinguished by the length 
of its jaws and the character of its dentition, though they resemble each other in 
the number of the vertebre. 
From R. longirostris it is readily distinguished by the spinal column, which 
in R. longirostris consists of only twenty-six to twenty-eight vertebra, and the 
comparative length of the head and body. The anterior position of the ventral 
fins, as compared with the dorsal, serves to distinguish this species from any 
other, in addition to the differences already enumerated. 
In allusion to its formidable appearance, I have given it the specific name 
of ferox. 
Formation and Locality—Upper Cretaceous: Sahel Alma, Mount Lebanon. 
Lx coll.—Lewis Collection, Natural History Department, British Museum. 
