(^n new AastraUnn Pti|jin:t.' aii<l Pupinella?. 24.'J 



Cuvier and Vak'iicieniit'.s * only nicognize tiie existence of 

 teeth in the prcniaxiUa and niandiblo, not in the maxilla. 



I have referred also to the descriptions of Piahuca argen- 

 tina which are to be found in the earlier literature of the 

 subject, but with negative results. The original account 

 (accompanied by a roughly executed figure) is that of 

 Marcgrave, in the ' Historia Naturalis Braziliie,' 16-48. 

 Koelrcutcr describes and figures the fish under the name of 

 Trutta dentata (Nov. Comm. Petrop. 1761, vol. viii. p. 413, 

 tab. xiv. fig. 4). Bloch also describes and figures it under 

 tbe name of Solmo argentinus (' Systema Ichthyologicae' 

 (Schn.), 1801, and taf. ccclxxxii. fig. 1); and Lacdpede 

 describes it, without figure, under the name of Characinus 

 piahucu, referring to the teeth merely as regards their form 

 (' Histoire Naturelle des Poissons/ 1803, tome v. p. 272). 



The point is of interest in view of the wide range of modifi- 

 cation in the relations of the premaxilla and maxilla existing 

 within the limits of the family Characinida;. All inter- 

 mediate stages are found between, on the one hand, the 

 presumably primitive condition in which the maxilla bears 

 teeth throughout its length and forms the major part of the 

 border of the mouth, and, on the other, the condition in 

 wiiich the maxilla is toothless and so reduced as to be practi- 

 cally excluded from the gape. This has already been pointed 

 out by Sageniehl t, BoulengerJ, and others, and I hope to 

 treat of the matter in some detail in a future paper. I would 

 only point out here that in respect of these conditions Piahuca 

 is one of the forms which occupy a somewhat central position 

 in the group. It is in this connexion that the question of the 

 presence or absence of maxillary teeth assumes interest and 

 importance. 



XXXI. — Descriptions of neio Australian Pupinre and 

 Pupinella?, with a Note on Pupina pineticola. Cox. 

 By Hugh C. Fulton. 



[Plate IX.] 



Owing to the fact that Dr. James C. Cox, C.M.Z.S.L., &c., 

 when describing his species, attached no importance to sepa- 

 rating one particular specimen as the type, it is very difficult 



* ' Ilistoire Naturelle des Poissons,' 1849, vol. xxii. pp. 107 A 109. 



t Morphol. Jabrb. x. 1886, p. 102. 



X ' Les Poissons du Bassin dii Conpro,' 1901, p. 132. 



