ABDOMINAL MALACOPTERVGIANS. 207 



what analogous to that observed in Anabas and other neighbouring 

 genera. The 



OSTEOGLOSSUM, Vumlclll, 



Have many points of resemblance with Sudis, but are particularly distin- 

 guished from that genus by two cirri, which float from beneath the sym- 

 physis of the lower jaw; the anal is united with the caudal; the tongue is 

 bony and excessively rough, from the circumstance of its being so com- 

 pletely covered with short, straight, and truncated teeth, that it serves 

 as a grater for reducing fruits into pulp, or for expressing their juice. 



O. Vandelli, Cuv. ; Ischnosoma bicirrhosum, Spix, XXV. A 

 tolerably large species from Brazil. 



Lepisosteus, Lacep., 



Have the snout formed by the union of the intermaxillaries and maxilla- 

 ries with the palatines to the vomer and ethmoid; the lower jaw equal in 

 length, and the edges of both of them, their whole interior surface being 

 covered with rasp-like teeth, provided with a series of long- pointed teeth. 

 The branchiae are united on the throat by a common membrane which has 

 three rays on each side. The scales are of a stony hardness, and the 

 dorsal and anal opposite to each other and very far back. The two last 

 rays of the tail-fin, and the first of all the others, are invested with scales, 

 which give them the appearance of being dentated. The stomach is con- 

 tinuous with a thin intestine, which is twice flexed, and provided with nu- 

 merous short caeca at the pylorus ; the natatory bladder is cellular as in 

 the Amiae, and occupies the whole length of the abdomen. 



They inhabit the lakes and rivers of the hot climates of America*, at- 

 tain a large size, and form an agreeable food"} - . 



PoLYPTERUS, Geoff. 



The Bichirs have the margins of the upper jaw immoveable, the middle 

 formed by the intermaxillaries, and the sides by the maxillaries; a sha- 

 greened bony plate, like those on the rest of the head, covers the whole 

 cheek, and there is but a single flat ray in the branchiae. The elongated 

 body is invested with stony scales as in Lepisosteus, and what particu- 

 larly distinguishes this genus from all others is a great number of sepa- 

 rate fins extending along the back, each of which is upheld by a strong 

 spine, furnished with some soft rays, attached to its posterior edge. The 

 caudal surrounds the end of the tail, the anal is close to it, the ventials 

 are very far back, and the pectorals placed on a scaly and somewhat elon- 

 gated arm. There is a range of conical teeth round each jaw, and behind 

 them others which are small and crowded, or rasp-like. The stomach is 



* 1 do not believe with Bloch that the fish from the East Indies, Renard VIII, 

 f. jfi; Valent. ill, 459, is the Esu.vos.seus — it is more probably a species of Belone. 



t The Caiman, Esox osse.us, L., 151. 390; — the Lepisostee spatufo, Lacep. V, vi, 2, 

 and the other species or varieties described by Rafin., FiBhes of the Ohio, p. 72, et seq. 



N. B. Under the name of Esox vh/dis, Linneeus appears to have united a descrip- 

 tion of the Belone sent by Garden with the figure of the Caiman given by Catesby, 



II, XXX. 



