12 GALAXIID^.. 



Suborder V. IIAPLOMI. 



Air-bladder, if present, communicating with the digestive tract by 

 a duct. Pectoral arch suspended from the skull; mesocoracoid arch 

 absent. Fins without spines, the ventrals abdominal if present. 

 Anterior vertebrae distinct, without Weberian ossicles. 



This group, of which the Pike is the type, is represented in Africa by 

 a single family. 



Fam. 1. GALAXIID.E. 



Margin of the upper jaw formed by the proemaxillaries and t'le 

 maxillaries, the latter behind the former and toothless. Parietals 

 in contact with each other, and separating the frontals from the 

 supraoccipital. Ribs inserted on strong autogenous parapophyses ; 

 epipleurals and epineurals present. Head and body naked. Vertical 

 fins far back. Pectoral fins inserted very low down ; ventrals, if 

 present, with 6 or 7 rays. 



Seas and fresh waters of the southern parts of South America, New 

 Zealand and neighbouring islands, Australia and Tasmania, and the 

 Cape of Good Hope. 



A single genus in Africa. 



1. GALAXIAS. 



Cuv. Regne Anim. ii. p. 183 (1817) ; C •• & Val. Hist. Poiss. xviii. p. .340 

 (181G); Gunth. (*at. Fish. vi. p. 208 (ibOC)); Regan, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1905, 

 ii. p. 365. 



Ventral fins present. Dorsal fin with 10 to 19 rays, opposite or 

 anterior to anal. Teeth conical, in a single series in the jaws and on 

 the inner edge of each entopterygoid, in two series on the tongue. 

 Vertebrae 53 to 64. 



Distribution same as for the family. 



1. GALAXIAS ZEBRATUS. 

 Coh'itis zehratus, Casteln. Mem. Poiss. Afr. Austr. j). 5o (1801). 

 Galaxias capensis, JSteind. Sit/.b. Ak. Wion, ciii. i. 1894, p. 400, pi. iii. fig. 2 ; 



M. Weber, Zool. Jahrb., Svst. x. 1897, p. 154. 

 Gula.vias ze/>ratiis, Bouleng. Ann. & Mag. N. H. (7) xvi. 1905, p. 51 ; Regan, 



Proc. Zool. Soc. 1905, ii. p. 3G7. 



Depth of body 4| to 5| times in total length, length of head 3i to 4^ 

 times. Snout rounded, as long as or a little shorter than eye, which is 

 about 4 times in length of head ; iuterorbital widtli about 3 times in 



