418 FISHES. ABDOMINALES. 



spine beneath each eye ; mouth with six short cirri. 3 inches 

 long. Rivers of Europe, under stones. B. Shaw, v. pi. 93. 



Gen. 53. ANABLEPS, Bloch. Cobitis, Lin. 



Body cylindrical ; covered with strong scales ; snout truncated ; 

 mouth with small teeth in both jaws ; eyes projecting and iris 

 divided into two portions by transverse bands ; ovoviviparous. 



A. tetrophthalmus, Bloch. Body yellowish gray, with longitudinal 

 black lines on each side ; pectoral fins rounded, scaly ; dorsal fin 

 small, near the tail. 8 to 10 inches long. Inhabits rivers in Guiana. 

 Shaw, v. pi. 94. 



Gen. 54. PCECILIA, Schn. 



Jaws flattened horizontally, not much cleft, and furnished with 

 a row of very small teeth ; head flat ; operculi large ; three 

 rays in the branchial membrane. 



P. heteroclita, (Cobitis heteroclita, Lin.) Body brown, yellowish be- 

 neath, with large scales ; dorsal and anal fins opposite ; tail round- 

 ed, spotted with white and banded with black. 4 inches long. 

 Inhabits Carolina Shaw, v. 5. 



Gen. 55. LEBIAS, Cuv. 



Jaws flattened horizontally, with a row of dentated teeth ; bran- 

 chial membrane with five rays. 



This genus is formed by Cuvier for the reception of two species, of which the 

 country is unknown Reg. An. ii. 199. 



Gen. 56. CYPRINODON, Lacep. 



Teeth crowded, and in both jaws, the anterior row hooked ; four 

 rays in the branchial membrane. 



This genus was instituted for the reception of a new species from the Bay of Charles- 

 ton, described and figured by M. Bosc, the C. variegatus, Lacep. v. pi. 15, fig. 1. 



FAMILY. V. SILURID/E. 



This family is distinguished from all the preceding by the want of scales, the body 

 being covered with a naked slimy skin or large osseous plates. The intermaxillary 

 bones suspended under the ethmoid form the margin of the upper jaw, and the max- 

 illaries are rudimentary, cr elongated into cirri. The intestinal canal is ample, but 

 without coecums ; the swimming-bladder large, and attached to a particular bony ap. 

 paratus; the dorsal and pectoral fins have almost always a strong spine for the first 

 ray ; and in some species they have an adipose dorsal fin like the salmon. These 

 fishes abound in the rivers of warm countries. 



Gen. 57. SILURUS, Artedi, Gronov. 



Head depressed ; mouth terminal ; teeth crowded, in both jaws; 

 fleshy cirri at the jaws ; skin covered with a mucous secretion ; 

 one very short dorsal fin without perceptible spine ; anal fin 

 long. 



S. glanis, Lin. Back round, greenish black ; belly whitish yellow ; 

 the body covered with blackish spots, and slimy ; fins margined 

 with violet j six cirri at the mouth, of which the two on the upper 



