200 ZOOLOGY 



On the ventral surface of the body, at about two-thirds of the 

 distance from the snout to the end of the tail, is the anus (Fig. 854, 

 an.)', behind it is the urinogcnital aperture, of almost equal 

 size and leading into the urinogcnital sinus, into which both 

 urinary and genital products are discharged. 



The region from the snout to the posterior edge of the operculum 

 is counted as the head', the trunk extends from the operculum to 

 the anus ; the post-anal region is the tail. 



There are two dorsal fins: the anterior dorsal (Fig. 854, d.f. 1) 

 is large and triangular, and is supported by thirteen bony fin-rays ; 

 the posterior dorsal (d.f. 2) is small and thick, and is devoid of 

 bony supports : it is distinguished as an adipose fin. The caudal 

 fin (c.f.) is the chief organ of locomotion ; it differs markedly from 

 that of most Elasmobranchs in being, as far as its external appear- 

 ance is concerned, quite symmetrical, being supported by fin-rays 

 which radiate regularly from the rounded end of the tail proper ; 

 such outwardly symmetrical tail-fins are called homocercal. There 

 is a single large ventral fin (v.f.) supported by eleven rays. The 

 pectoral fin (pet. /.) has fourteen rays and is situated, in the 

 normal position, cldfee behind the gill-opening, but the pelvic fin 

 (pv. /.) has shifted its position and lies some distance in front 

 of the vent : it is supported by ten rays, and has a small process 

 or adipose lobe (a. I.) springing from its outer edge near the base. 



The body is covered by a soft, slimy skin through which, in the 

 trunk and tail, the outlines of the scales can be seen; on the head 

 and fins the skin is smooth and devoid of scales. A well-marked 

 lateral line (I. I.) extends along each side from head to tail, and 

 is continued into branching lines on the head. The skin is grey 

 above, shading into yellowish below, and is covered with minute 

 black pigment-spots which, on the sides and back, are aggregated 



to form round spots two or three milli- 

 metres in diameter. In young specimens 

 orange-coloured spots are also present. 



Skin and Exoskeleton. The epi- 

 dermis contains unicellular glands, from 

 which the mucus covering the body is 

 secreted, and pigment-cells, to which the 

 colours of the animal are due. The 

 scales (Fig. 856) are lodged in pouches 

 of the dermis and have the form of fiat, 

 FIG. 856. scale of Saimo fario. nearly circular plates of bone marked 



a. anterior portion covered by . , T i 



overlap of preceding scales; with concentric lines, but having no 



b. free portion covered only by TT 11 i v 



pigmeiited epidermis. Jlaversian canals, lacunae, or canalicun. 



They have an imbricating arrangement, 



overlapping one another -from before backwards, like the tiles of 

 a house, in such a way that a small three-sided portion (&) of 

 each scale comes to lie immediately beneath the epidermis, while 



