348 Miscellaneous. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
ON A FISH ALLIED TO LEPIDOSIREN ANNECTENS. 
Art the sitting of the Berlin Academy on the 5th of December 1844, 
Prof. Muller presented a communication from Dr. Peters, ‘‘ Ona fish 
from the Quellimane marshes provided with both lungs and gills, re- 
lated to Lepidosiren annectens.” 
This animal, which resides during the dry season in a cavity 
formed in the earth and lined with leaves, resembles the Lepidosiren 
annectens so completely in many points of its external and internal 
organization, that Dr. Peters is inclined to regard these two animals 
as identical, and to consider the distinguishing characters of the 
latter as consequent on our still imperfect knowledge of it. The 
composition of the skull, the vertebral column, the arches furnished 
with and those not furnished with gills, the lungs, alimentary canal, 
the generative organs, the brain, heart, external form, scales, and the 
teeth are exactly as in the Lepidosiren annectens. The pectoral and 
ventral fins, the labial cartilages, the perforated nostrils, and the 
existence of external gill-filaments differ from what has been hitherto 
described in the latter. 
The pectoral and ventral fins do not consist of merely a single ar- 
ticulated member or ray, but also of cartilaginous rays, which ema- 
nate from the inferior margin of the main limb or principal ray of 
the fin, and to which still finer cartilaginous filaments are attached. 
These rays are not extensions of the main limbs of the fin, but are 
attached to it ; the length of the rays diminishes towards the end of 
the main limb or principal ray of the fin until it becomes inappre- 
ciable ; the extremities of the rays do not lie loosely upon the skin, 
but the whole fin is covered by a prolongation of the skin, which also 
covers the principal ray of the fin. In the pectoral fins, the beard of 
the fin is as long as its ray. In the ventral fins, one-third of the 
length of the ray is free at the base of the fin; this then commences 
very low and remains much lower than in the pectoral fins. In the 
latter the beard of the fin external to the ray is 3 lines broad in 
its widest part. This kind of formation of the fins, in which the rays 
arise laterally from a main ray, is quite peculiar, and we have no other 
example of it amongst fish except in the dorsal fin of Polypterus. 
The nostrils are double, and the posterior lies on the palatal side 
of the upper lip, as in Lepidosiren paradoxa, the labial cartilage of 
which is similarly placed. 
There are three gill-filaments above the thoracic fin behind the gill- 
aperture ; they are not branched, and consequently appear like ten- 
tacles ; they are placed closely together, one above the other. Two 
are of equal length, being 4 lines long; the third is the lowest, and 
is much shorter. They are not present in the young specimens only, 
but in all, even those which have attained the length of 2 feet. 
These filaments, which are somewhat broad and pointed at the ex- 
tremity, are composed at their fore-part of a continuation of the 
external skin of the animal; the posterior part exhibits fine feathery 
ramifications of blood-vessels. In the middle line of the posterior 
