412 FISHES. ABDOMINALES. 



small; tail much forked. 11 to 18 inches long. Inhabits Bri- 

 tish seas. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. pi. 75. 

 The Saury Pike is gregarious, and is frequently found in autumn in the shallows 



of the Frith of Forth, upon the recess of the tide, with its long nose imbedded in the 



mud. 



Gen. 40. HEMIRAMPHUS, Cuv. Esox, Bloch. 

 Both jaws furnished with small teeth ; symphysis of the lower 

 jaw prolonged into a long point without teeth. 



H. Braziliensis, Cuv. Body long, subcylindrical, pale green,, with 

 five or six broad semidecurrent brown bands across the back; 

 abdomen silvery; tail sharply forked. 12 to 15 inches long. 

 Inhabits Indian and American seas. Bloch, pi. 391. 



Gen. 41. EXOCETUS, Lin. 



Head covered with scales ; ten rays in the branchial membrane ; 

 eyes large ; jaws furnished with small pointed teeth, and 

 the pharyngeal bones with flat ones ; pectoral fins as long as 

 the body. 



This genus is remarkable for the extreme length and size of their pectoral fins, by 

 which they are enabled to support a kind of flight in the air for two or three hundred 

 feet. The general height to which they rise above the water is three feet. In thus 

 endeavouring to escape from their aquatic enemies, however, they often form the 

 prey of sea-birds. 



E. exiliens, Bloch. Mediterranean Flying- Fish. Head compressed, 

 broad above, narrow below, and covered with large scales ; body 

 silvery, with brownish back ; ventral fins long, and behind the 

 middle of the abdomen. 12 to 15 inches long. Inhabits Medi- 

 terranean sea. Shaw, v. pi. 116. . 



E. evolans, Bloch. Common Flying-Fish. Body silvery, with brown- 

 ish back ; ventral fins small, of a slightly lunated form, near the 

 pectoral ones. American and Indian seas. Shaw, v. pi. 117- 



E. mesogaster, Bloch. Body bright silvery, with a dusky tinge on 

 the back ; fins bluish ; ventral fins in the middle of the abdomen. 

 Inhabits Atlantic Ocean Shaw, v. pi. 116. 



Gen. 42. MORMYRUS, Lin. 



Body compressed, oblong, scaly ; head covered by a naked and 

 thick skin, covering the operculi and branchial rays ; mouth 

 small ; teeth slender and notched in the intermaxillaries and 

 lower jaw, and a long band of crowded teeth on the tongue 

 and vomer. 



M. Hasselquistii, Geoff. Snout cylindrical; dorsal fin long; tail 

 forked. Inhabits the Nile Geoff. Pois. du Nil, pi. 6, fig. 2. 



M. angmlloides, Geoff. Snout cylindrical ; dorsal fin short. Inha- 

 bits the Nile Geoff, pi. 7, fig. 2. 



M. labiatns, Geoff. Snout short, rounded ; dorsal fin short. Inha- 

 bits the Nile. Geoff, pi. 7, fig. 1. 





