﻿On 
  Venus 
  stimpsoni, 
  Gould. 
  133 
  

  

  ossifications 
  ; 
  it 
  bears 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  long 
  posterior 
  cornua 
  and 
  

   is 
  movably 
  articulated 
  to 
  the 
  lower 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  coracoid 
  

   cartilages. 
  No 
  air-bladder. 
  

  

  Family 
  Ateleopidae. 
  

  

  The 
  genus 
  Ateleopus 
  or 
  Podateles, 
  with 
  four 
  species 
  from 
  

   the 
  Indo-Pacific, 
  was 
  placed 
  by 
  GUnther 
  near 
  the 
  Macruridae. 
  

   Boulenger 
  examined 
  the 
  pectoral 
  arch 
  in 
  Ateleopus 
  indicus, 
  

   and 
  finding 
  that 
  the 
  foramen 
  was 
  intrascapular 
  placed 
  it 
  near 
  

   the 
  Ophidiidse 
  among 
  the 
  jugular 
  Acanthopterygians. 
  In 
  a 
  

   paper 
  read 
  at 
  the 
  Zoological 
  Congress 
  of 
  1907 
  I 
  made 
  thi3 
  

   genus 
  the 
  type 
  of 
  a 
  separate 
  order, 
  Chondrobrachii, 
  pointing 
  

   out 
  the 
  improbability 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  related 
  to 
  fishes 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  

   Blennioids, 
  which 
  have 
  the 
  pelvic 
  bones 
  directly 
  attached 
  

   to 
  the 
  cleithra 
  above 
  the 
  symphysis. 
  

  

  The 
  evidence 
  of 
  relationship 
  to 
  Aulopus 
  now 
  seems 
  to 
  me 
  

   so 
  clear 
  that 
  I 
  am 
  disposed 
  to 
  abandon 
  the 
  order 
  Chondro- 
  

   brachii. 
  Ateleopus 
  scarcely 
  differs 
  more 
  from 
  Aulopus 
  in 
  fin- 
  

   structure 
  than 
  Coilia 
  does 
  from 
  Engraulis, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  especially 
  

   noteworthy 
  that 
  the 
  many-jointed 
  simple 
  or 
  bifid 
  pelvic 
  ray 
  

   is 
  exactly 
  similar 
  to 
  the 
  outer 
  pelvic 
  rays 
  of 
  Aulopus 
  ; 
  it 
  has 
  

   been 
  wrongly 
  described 
  as 
  two 
  rays 
  bound 
  together 
  ; 
  rather 
  

   it 
  is 
  the 
  two 
  components 
  of 
  one 
  ray 
  which 
  remain 
  distinct 
  

   and 
  may 
  separate 
  from 
  each 
  other 
  distally. 
  The 
  resemblances 
  

   and 
  differences 
  in 
  the 
  pectoral 
  arch 
  and 
  pelvis 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  

   on 
  comparing 
  figures 
  3 
  and 
  7. 
  The 
  resemblances 
  in 
  the 
  skull 
  

   have 
  already 
  been 
  pointed 
  out, 
  but 
  the 
  skeletal 
  differences, 
  

   mainly 
  due 
  to 
  degeneration 
  or 
  to 
  a 
  persistence 
  of 
  the 
  con- 
  

   ditions 
  usually 
  found 
  in 
  very 
  young 
  fish, 
  seem 
  to 
  justify 
  the 
  

   recognition 
  of 
  a 
  separate 
  suborder 
  for 
  Ateleopus. 
  

  

  XIV. 
  — 
  A 
  Description 
  of 
  Venus 
  stimpsoni, 
  Gould. 
  

   By 
  A. 
  J. 
  Jukes-Browne, 
  B.A., 
  F.K.S., 
  M.M.S. 
  

  

  [Plate 
  IV.] 
  

  

  The 
  shell 
  now 
  described 
  and 
  figured 
  (Plate 
  IV.) 
  was 
  first 
  

   made 
  known 
  and 
  briefly 
  described 
  by 
  A. 
  G. 
  Gould 
  in 
  1861 
  * 
  

   and 
  1862 
  t 
  3 
  uut 
  was 
  not 
  figured 
  by 
  him, 
  nor 
  has 
  any 
  sub- 
  

   sequent 
  writer 
  published 
  a 
  figure 
  of 
  it, 
  probably 
  because 
  very 
  

  

  * 
  Boston 
  Soc. 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  vol. 
  viii. 
  (1861 
  ). 
  

   t 
  ' 
  Otia 
  Couchologica,' 
  p. 
  169 
  (Boston, 
  1862). 
  

  

  