﻿320 
  Mr. 
  C. 
  T. 
  Regan 
  on 
  the 
  Osteology 
  and 
  

  

  XXXV. 
  — 
  The 
  Osteology 
  and 
  Classification 
  of 
  the 
  Teleostean 
  

   Fishes 
  of 
  the 
  Order 
  Microcyprini. 
  By 
  C. 
  Tate 
  Regan, 
  

   M.A. 
  

  

  (Published 
  by 
  permission 
  of 
  the 
  Trustees 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Museum.) 
  

  

  [Plate 
  VIII.] 
  

  

  As 
  defined 
  and 
  limited 
  in 
  the 
  'Cambridge 
  Natural 
  History 
  ' 
  

   the 
  group 
  Haplomi 
  includes 
  a 
  numbu- 
  of 
  families 
  of 
  soft- 
  

   rayed 
  fishes 
  with 
  abdominal 
  pelvic 
  fins, 
  which 
  are 
  thrown 
  

   together 
  because 
  they 
  lack 
  the 
  mesocoracoid 
  bone, 
  the 
  presence 
  

   of 
  which 
  characterizes 
  the 
  order 
  Isospondyli 
  or 
  Malaco- 
  

   pterygii. 
  It 
  was 
  only 
  to 
  be 
  expected 
  that 
  further 
  study 
  of 
  

   such 
  a 
  large 
  and 
  heterogeneous 
  group, 
  defined 
  by 
  a 
  single 
  

   negative 
  character, 
  would 
  prove 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  unnatural. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  already 
  called 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  Retropinnn, 
  

   Microstoma, 
  and 
  Salanx 
  have 
  no 
  mesocoracoid*, 
  although 
  

   they 
  are 
  closely 
  related 
  to 
  the 
  Argentinidae, 
  in 
  which 
  that 
  

   bone 
  is 
  well 
  developed. 
  Moreover, 
  Retro 
  pinna, 
  which 
  repre- 
  

   sents 
  Osmerus 
  in 
  Australia 
  and 
  New 
  Zealand, 
  is 
  a 
  connecting- 
  

   link 
  between 
  the 
  northern 
  family 
  Argentinidae 
  and 
  the 
  

   southern 
  Haplochitonidae 
  and 
  Galaxiidae. 
  All 
  these 
  fishes 
  

   are 
  extremely 
  similar 
  in 
  osteology, 
  dentition, 
  and 
  other 
  

   characters, 
  and 
  are 
  very 
  closely 
  related. 
  The 
  Haplochitonidae 
  

   and 
  Galaxiidae, 
  then, 
  are 
  not 
  Haplomi, 
  although 
  they 
  have 
  

   lost 
  the 
  mesocoracoid 
  ; 
  they 
  are 
  Salmonoids. 
  

  

  The 
  third 
  family 
  of 
  the 
  Haplomi 
  in 
  the 
  ' 
  Cambridge 
  

   Natural 
  History' 
  is 
  the 
  Enchodontidae, 
  Cretaceous 
  fishes 
  

   which 
  seem 
  to 
  me 
  to 
  be 
  related 
  to 
  the 
  Stomiatidae, 
  which 
  

   they 
  resemble 
  in 
  mouth-structure 
  and 
  in 
  cranial 
  osteology. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  already 
  dealt 
  with 
  the 
  osteology 
  and 
  classification 
  

   of 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  groups 
  included 
  in 
  the 
  Haplomi 
  by 
  

   Boulenger, 
  viz. 
  the 
  Percopsidae 
  (which 
  I 
  have 
  united 
  with 
  

   the 
  Aphredoderidae 
  to 
  form 
  the 
  isolated 
  order 
  Salmopercae), 
  

   the 
  Stephanoberycidae 
  (provisionally 
  placed 
  with 
  the 
  Melatn- 
  

   phaidae 
  in 
  an 
  order 
  Xenoberyces, 
  apparently 
  related 
  to 
  the 
  

   Berycomorphi), 
  the 
  Scopelidae, 
  Alepidosauridae, 
  Cetomimidae, 
  

   and 
  Chirothricidae, 
  which 
  with 
  the 
  Ateleopidae 
  form 
  the 
  order 
  

   Iniomi, 
  an 
  offshoot 
  from 
  very 
  primitive 
  isospondylous 
  fishes. 
  

  

  The 
  Kneriidse 
  have 
  already 
  been 
  removed 
  to 
  the 
  Isospondyli 
  

   by 
  Boulenger 
  (Cat. 
  African 
  Freshwater 
  Fish.) 
  ; 
  this 
  family 
  

   is 
  not 
  very 
  remote 
  from 
  the 
  Chanidae. 
  

  

  * 
  Aim. 
  & 
  Mag. 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  (8) 
  iii. 
  1909, 
  p. 
  82. 
  

  

  