Cretaceous Fishes from Mount Lebanon. 413 



There are remains of short intermuscular bones above the 

 vertebral column throughout its length and also beneatli it in 

 the caudal region. None of the fins are remarkably large, 

 but the pelvic pair is not much inferior in size to the pectorals. 

 The pelvic fins arise opposite the middle of the dorsal, some- 

 what nearer to the anal than to the pectorals, and each seems 

 to comprise seven rays, the foremost articulated, the others 

 both articulated and divided distally. The dorsal fin com- 

 prises 12 rays, and their supports exhibit small laminar 

 expansions ; its origin is about as far from the occiput as its 

 hinder end from ttie base of the caudal fin. The anal fin, 

 with 7 rays, is comparatively small and arises slightly 

 nearer to the caudal than to the origin of the pelvic pair. 

 The caudal fin is very stout and somewhat forked, with a 

 few short fulcral rays at its base above and below. The 

 squamation is delicate and does not appear to extend over the 

 head. It is impossible to determine the form of the scales 

 with certainty, but appearances suggest that they are compa- 

 ratively small and antero-posteriorly elongated. 



The form of the jaws and branch iostegal rays, the presence 

 of giinding-teeth, the shortness of the ribs, and the note- 

 worthy expansion of the foremost neural arches are characters 

 indicating that this fish does not belong to the genus 

 Spaniodon. The composition of the upper jaw is uncertain ; 

 but comparison of the stout upper lateral bone with Gono- 

 rhynchus and Notogoneus, of the family Gonorhynchidaj *, 

 suggests that it is a maxilla of the same type as in the latter 

 genera, excluded from the border of the mouth. The great 

 depth of the mandible is also paralleled in these small- 

 mouthed Gonorhynchid fishes, but its characteristic shape 

 cannot be distinguished. The inner teeth resemble those of 

 Gonorhynchus. The expansion of the anterior neural spines 

 is exactly similar to that observed in Notogoneus. The 

 vertebral column and fins also resemble those of the latter 

 genus, except that the abdominal vertebra? are fewer. 1 he 

 squamation, though obscure, might also be interpreted as 

 resembling that of the Gonorhynchidas in character ; but 

 there are no traces of its extension over the head. 



It thus seems extremely probable that the so-called 

 Spam'oc/on hakelensis is a Gonorhynchid fish, differing from 

 the Tertiary and Recent members of the family in the absence 

 of scales on the head. It appears to belong to the same 

 genus as Charitosomus formosus f from the Upper Cretaceous 



* Smith Woodward, " On some Extinct Fishes of the Teleostean 

 Family Gouorhjncbida-," Proc. Zool. Soc. 1896, pp. 500-504, pi. xviii. 



t W. von der March, Paheontogr. vol. xxxi. (1885), p. 257, pi. xxiv 

 fig. 1. 



