Jordan diul Jwrniiinn. Fishes of North America. 



i. BRANCHIOSTOMA, Costa. 



(L.ANCELETS.) 



, COSTA, Cenui Zoologici Napol., 49, 1834, (lnlricum = lanceolatum). 

 I, ,.;/-..,!*, YARKELL, British Fishes, 4G8, 1830, (lanceolatus). 



Lancelots with the gonads or reproductive structure present on both 

 sides of the median line. Anal iin present, with traces of rays. Verte- 

 bral column not produced backward into a caudal process. Six or 7 

 species recognized, found in the warm seas, usually buried in sand flats 

 at no great depth. They are very tenacious of life, and will endure con- 

 siderable mutilation. (^po-yx La ^ gi^ 8 5 crro^a, mouth, the cirri about the 

 mouth having been taken for gills by Costa). 



a. Myocommata or muscular bands, 58 to 64. 



1. Myocommata behind vent, 11 to 13, the formula usually 35 + 14 + 12 = 61. 



LANCEOLATUM, 1. 



bb. Myocommata behind vent, 7 to 10, the formula usually 35 + 14 -f- 9 = 58. 



CARIB/EUM, 2. 



ua. Myocommata or muscular bands, 65 to 70, the usual formula 44 + 16 + 9 = 69; size larger 

 than in other American species ; the tail short. CALIFOKNIENSE, 3. 



1. BRANCHIOSTOMA LANCEOLATUM, (Pallas). 

 (EUROPEAN LANCELET; AMPHIOXUS.) 



Muscular bands usually 35 -f- 14 -f 12 = 61. Usual length H inches. The 

 common European species, with the tail stoutish and rather long; abun- 

 dant on the sandy shores of the Mediterranean, and known from Southern 

 England and Scandinavia. The Lancelot of the Chesapeake Bay, accord- 

 ing to Dr. Andrews, is referable to this species rather than to B. caribceum. 

 (lanceolatus, lance-shaped.) (Eu.) 



Umax lanceolate, PALLAS, Spicilegia Zool., X, 19, 1774, Cornwall. 



Branchiostoma lubricum, COSTA, Cenui Zool. Napol., 49, 1834, Naples. 



Ampkioxus lanceolatus, YARRELL, British Fishes, 468, 1836, and of many writers on anatomy ; GON- 



TIIKR, Cat., vin, 513, 1870 ; JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 867, 1883 ; GUNTHER, Kept. Zool. II. 



M. S. Alert, 32, 1884 ; ANDREWS, Studies Biol. Lab. Johns Hopkins Univ., v, 238, 1893. 



2. BRANCHIOSTOMA CARIB.EUM,* Sundevall. 

 (WEST INDIAN LANCELET.) 



Muscular bands (myocommata) usually 35 + 14 -f 9 = 58 ; gonads 22 to 

 26 on each side ; usual length If inches; tail short; extremities attenuate. 

 In shallow waters, buried in the sand, from Beaufort, N. C., to the mouth 

 of the La Plata; abundant off the Carolina coast and in localities in 

 Florida (Port Tampa), Jamaica, Brazil, etc. (Name from the Caribbean 

 sea.) 



Branchiogtoma cori&aacro, SUNDEVALL, Olfers, Vet. Akad. Forhandl., 12, 1853 , St. Thomas; Rio 

 Janeiro; GUNTHER, Voyage Alert, 32, 1884 ; JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 3; ANDREWS, I. c., 

 240, 1893. 



*This species is not very different from B. lanceolatum, and may vary into it. 



