Remarks on the Genus Megalichthys {Agassiz), etc. 69 



however, M'Coy very properly struck out Diptems} which 

 from its rounded scales he classed as a " Coelacanth/' and 

 Avhich we now know is in fact a Dipnoan, allied to Ceratodus. 

 The probable position of Megalichthys in the " Saurodipterini," 

 was also indicated by Pander, who mentioned its close re- 

 lationship to Osteolepis in the arrangement of its head bones, 

 the shape of its scales and teeth, and, above all, in the micro- 

 scopic structure of its hard parts, though he also seemed to 

 hesitate, on account of our want of knowledge, of the conforma- 

 tion and position of its lins.^ A similar opinion, coupled with 

 a similar hesitation, is expressed by Professor Huxley in his 

 well-known Essay on the Classification of the Devonian 

 Fishes.^ 



Professor Young, in a paper on " Carboniferous Glyptodi- 

 pterines,"* makes some observations on Megalichthys, including 

 a statement that, " since 1861, specimens illustrating the 

 form of the fins have been acquired by the Museum (Jermyn 

 Street), but the description and illustration of these parts 

 are reserved." I am not aware of any account of these 

 specimens having been yet published. An important point 

 is, however, his abolition of McCoy's genus Centroclus as a 

 mere synonym of Megcdichthys. Centrodus was founded 

 upon a detached tooth from the coal-measures of Carluke, 

 Lanarkshire. 



Mr J. Ward in a paper on the " Fishes of the North Stafford- 

 shire Coal-field," classes Megcdichthys in the family Saurodi- 

 pterini, and states, moreover, that in a specimen in his collec- 

 tion the pectoral fins are well preserved ; — " They are lobate, 

 i.e., the central portion of the fin is covered with scales, the 

 fin-rays forming a fringe round the lobe." ^ 



There can be no doubt that the position of Megalichthys 

 is in the family of Saurodipterini, as defined by Pander, and 

 adopted by Huxley and other writers. In every matter of 



1 British Pal. Foss., p. 590-592. 



2 Die Saurodixjterinen, etc., des devonisclien Systems, p. 5. 

 =JDec. Geol. Survey, x., 1861, p. 12. 



4 Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc, xxii., 1866, pp. 596-608. 



5 North Staffordshire Nat. Field Club ; Addresses and Papers. Hanley, 

 1875, p. 228. 



