242 PISCES. 



cated leeih, that it serves as a rasp for reducing fruits into pulp, or 

 for expressing their juice. 



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

 tolerably large species from Brazil. 



Lepisosteus, Lacep. 



The snout formed by the union of the intermaxillaries, maxillari€S 

 and palatines with the vomer and ethmoid; the lower jaw equal 

 in length, and the edges of both of them, their whole interior sur- 

 face 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 continuous with a 

 thin intestine which is twice flexed and provided with numerous 

 short cxca 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 Ameri- 

 ca, (1) attain a large size, and form an agreeable food. (2) 



POLYPTERUS, Geoff. 



Margin of the upper jaw immovable, the middle formed by the in- 

 termaxillaries, and the sides by the maxillaries; a shagreened 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 

 particularly distinguishes this genus from all others is a great num- 

 ber of separate fins extending along the back, each of which is up- 

 held 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 ventrals are very far back, and the pectorals 



(1) I do not believe with Bloch that the fish from the East Indies, Kenard, VIII, 

 f. 56; Valent., Ill, 459, is the Esox osseus — it is more probably a species of Be- 

 lone. 



(2) The Ciiima.n, Esox osseus, L,., Bl., 390; — the Lepisostee spatule, Lacep., V, 

 vi, 2, and tlie other species or varieties described by Rafin., Fishes of the Ohio, 

 p. 72, et seq. 



N.B. Under the name of Esox viriclis, Linnsus appears to have united a de- 

 scription of the Belone sent by Garden with tlie figure of the Caiman given by 

 Catesby, II, xxx. 



