MALACOPTERYGII. 129 



ORDER VI. MALACOPTERYGII 

 ABDOMINALES. 



All the fishes of this order possess bony skele- 

 tons ; the jaws are in one piece, and the branchiae 

 pectinated. .All the rays of the fins are soft, except 

 in some instances, the first of the dorsal or pec- 

 torals, and the ventrals are posterior to the abdo- 

 men. 



The order includes nearly all the fresh water 

 fishes, as well as those which migrate periodically 

 from the ocean to the rivers. It may be said, 

 with propriety, that most of the edible fishes also 

 belong to this order. It is divided into five 

 natural families. 



FRESH WATER FISHES. 



Thus far we have been considering the fishes-, 

 which are either entirely confined to the ocean, 

 or are only occasional visitants of the fresh water. 

 But in the river, there is a race which could not 

 subsist in the compound element where the great- 

 est proportion of all the varieties of aquatic animals 

 known to naturalists, have their residence. 



After the most careful examination of the ana- 

 tomical structure of this class, there is noth- 

 9 



