126 



VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 



the skin in front of the pelvic fins, and a median finger-like process is 

 hinged to the forehead between the eyes. Just how these claspers 

 are used is not known. They also show certain tendencies in the 



FIG. 69. Group of Holocephali (Chimaeras). A, Chimcera monslrosa (after 

 Bridge). B, Callorhynchus antarcticus, male (after Parker and Haswell). G, 

 Harriotta raleighana (after Goode and Bean). 



direction of the Teleostomi, such as the crowding together of the 

 branchial arches underneath the head, the development of an oper- 

 culum covering all but the last gill-slit, the suppression of the spir- 

 acles, and the absence, of a cloaca. 

 These curious fishes are of moderate size, one to three feet in length. 



