126 SCOMBEROIDS. 



In the Paralepis, the intermaxillary teeth are so small that they 

 are indistinguishable without the aid of a lens ; thus magnified, they 

 are seen to be very numerous and close-set, like the teeth of a saw. 

 The premandibular and palatine teeth, on the contrary, are large, 

 but slender, recurved and sharp-pointed, set wide apart, with smaller 

 teeth in the interspaces. There are no teeth on the vomer or 

 tongue. 



52. Sphyrcena. — The most formidable dentition exhibited in the 

 extensive Scomberoid family of the system of Agassiz is that which cha- 

 racterizes the Sphyr<sna, and some extinct fishes allied to this predatory 

 genus. In the great barracuda of the southern shores of the United 

 States, (Sphyrcena Barracuda, Cuv.) the lower jaw contains a single row 

 of large, compressed, conical, sharp-pointed, and sharp-edged teeth, 

 resembling the blades of lancets, but stronger at the base. (I) The 

 two anterior of these teeth are twice as long as the rest, but the 

 posterior and serial teeth gradually increase in size towards the 

 back part of the jaw ; there are about twenty-four of these piercing 

 and cutting teeth in each premandibular bone. They are opposed to 

 a double row of similar teeth in the upper jaw, and fit into the 

 interspace of these two rows, when the mouth is closed. The outer- 

 most row is situated on the intermaxillary, the innermost on the 

 palatine bones ; there are no teeth on the vomer or superior maxil- 

 lary bones. The two anterior teeth in each intermaxillary bone 

 equal the opposite pair in the lower jaw in size ; the posterior teeth 

 are serial, numerous and of small size ; the second of the two anterior 

 large intermaxillary teeth is placed on the inner side of the com- 

 mencement of the row of small teeth, and is a little inclined back- 

 wards. The retaining power of all the large anterior teeth is increased 

 by a slight posterior projection, similar to the barb of a fish hook, 



of the " Alepisaurus" most of the foregoing details of its dentai organs are derived, observes, 

 with respect to the successors of the larger palatine teeth, " Whether they were originally, 

 like the others, fixed, and are merely loose from injury or fracture, or are properly moveable and 

 free, I can scarcely venture to decide. At first sight and from the way in which they lie 

 amongst the loose gelatinous integuments of the palate, with no appearance of a regular attach- 

 ment by the base, their condition seems the effect of accident." — Transactions of the Zoological 

 Society, vol. i, p. 396. 



(1) PI. ], fig. 4, and PI. 53, fig. 1. 



