SCHILBE. FISHES. 419 



lip are very long and filamentous. 3 to 4 feet long, but sometimes 

 reaching to the length of 15 feet. Inhabits large rivers in Eu- 

 rope, Stc.Skaw, v. pi. 95. 



This is the largest fresh water fish of Europe. It is a sluggish animal, being rarely 

 observed in motion, and often found watching its prey beneath hollow banks, or 

 half imbedded in the soft mud under the projecting roots of trees. Its long tentacula 

 moving about gently in the mud, are conceived to be an attraction to the smaller fishes. 



S.fossilis, Bloch. Body blackish brown above, gray beneath ; head 

 covered with bony plates ; cirri eight, in four pairs ; anal fin very 

 long ; tail small, rounded. 8 inches long. Inhabits lakes in India, 

 Bloch, pi. 370, fig. 2. 



S. bimaculatus, Bloch. Body compressed ; olivaceous above, sil- 

 very beneath ; head small ; upper lip with a long cirrus on each 

 side ; lower jaw projecting ; dorsal fin very small ; anal long ; 

 tail deeply lunated, with black tips. 12 inches long. Inhabits 

 Indian rivers. Block, pi. 364. 



Gen. 58. SCHILBE, Cuv. 



Body compressed vertically ; head small, depressed ; eyes placed 

 very low ; a strong and dentated spine on the dorsal fin ; cirri 

 eight. 



S. Niloticus, (Silurus mystus, Lin.) Dorsal fin with eight rays ; tail 

 forked. Inhabits the Nile Geoff. Poiss. d'Egyp. pi. 2, fig. 3 and 4. 

 The only other species of this genus is the S. auritus, also from the Nile. 



Gen. 59. SYNODONTIS, Cuv. 



Snout narrow ; lower jaw with flattened teeth, laterally hooked 

 and on a flexible pedicle ; bone of the head forming a rough 

 helmet prolonged to the first dorsal fin ; spines of the dorsal 

 and pectoral fins very strong ; cirri pinnated. 



S. scheilan, Cuv. (Sil. clarias, Hasselquist.) According to Hassel- 

 quist, the wounds made by the spines of the pectoral fins are dan- 

 gerous. Hasselq. Voyages, 225. 



Gen. 60. PIMELODUS, Cuv. Silurus, Bloch. 

 Head depressed ; crowded teeth in both jaws ; upper jaw with 

 one intermaxillary band ; two dorsal fins, the second adipose. 



P. clarias, Cuv. With six cirri, of which two are on the upper 

 lip and four on the chin, those above longer than the body ; first 

 ray of the pectoral fins strong and serrated. 12 to 15 inches long. 

 Inhabits rivers of S. America Bloch, pi. 35, fig. 1 and 2. 



P. nodosus, Cuv. Head flat, rounded ; six cirri, the two upper ones 

 longest ; first ray of the dorsal fin longer than the others, serrated 

 on its inner margin, with the base knotty. 1 foot long. Inha- 

 bits rivers of India. Bloch, pi. 368, fig. 1. 



P. Herzbergii, Cuv. Body rounded ; back brownish ; fins yellow ; 

 sides and belly silvery ; first ray of the dorsal fin longest, serrated 

 on its exterior margin ; thirteen rays in the anal fin. 12 to 18 

 inches long. Inhabits rivers of S. America. Block, pi. 367- 



