CHECK LIST 



OF THE 



FISHES OF ONTARIO. 



PISCES (The Fishes). 



The Fishes may be defined as cold-blooded vertebrates, adapted for 

 life in the water, breathing- by means of gills attached to bony or 

 cartiiag-inous g^ill arches ; having the skull well developed and with a 

 lower jaw; with limbs present and developed as fins, or rarely wanting 

 through atrophy ; with shoulder girdle present, furcula shaped, curved 

 forward and with the sides connected below ; with pelvic bones present ; 

 having the exoskeleton developed as scales or bony plates, or horny- 

 appendages, sometimes obsolete, and with the median line of body 

 with one or more fins composed of cartilaginous rays connected by mem- 

 brane. 



The Lampreys differ so widely from the true fishes, having no jaws, 

 no limbs and no trace of the bones to which limbs should be hung that 

 they are properly excluded from consideration as fishes. I have, however, 

 included them here, as they are popularly believed to be fish and are of 

 economic importance to our fishery interests from the fact that they 

 destroy vast numbers of valuable food fish. 



[7] 



