100 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 



GENUS PIMELEPTERUS. Cuvier. 



With a single dorsal Jin. With cutting teeth in both jaws ; the teeth implanted in the jaws 

 by means of a heel extended horizontally backwards. 



Obs. This genus was remodelled by Cuvier, from the several genera Xystere, Dorsuaire 

 and Kyphose, proposed by Lacepede. It comprises ten species, principally from the Indian 

 seas ai^d the coast of Guinea. One is found along our shores. 



THE RAZOR-FISH. 



PlMELEPTERHS EOSCII. 



PLATE XX. FIG. 66. 



Pimelepterus boscii. Lacep. Vol. 4, p. 429 and 430. 



Pimeleptire de Bosc. Cdv. et Val. Hist, des Poiss. Vol. 7, p. 258, pi. 187. 



Characteristics. Body oval, brownish, with faint longitudinal lines. Length six inches. 



Description. Form almost regularly oval. Scales on every part of the body, except the 

 lips ; those on the body semi-elliptic, longer than wide, finely ciliated on their free margins ; 

 sixty in a longitudinal, and thirty in a vertical direction. Lateral line concurrent with the 

 back. Snout rounded, and vertical at its extremity. Length of the head to the total length 

 as 1 to 4 "25. Eyes large, distant apart more than their diameters. The anterior nostril 

 small, round, with a raised margin ; the posterior larger, oval. Teeth 22 - 24 in a single 

 series : on the salient portion they are oval, flat, with a cutting edge ; the base is attached to 

 a horizontal process nearly as long as the teeth, pointing backwards, and attached to the jaw ; 

 behind these, a band of fine velvet teelh. A rough line on each palatine ; a crescent-shaped 

 rough plate on the anterior part of the vomer ; and a large oval disc on each pterygoid. 

 Tongue wide, rounded, free. Preopercle finely striated on its margin, the angle rounded. 

 Branchial rays seven. 



The dorsal fin commences over the base of the ventrals, and is continued to within an inch 

 of the base of the caudal; its soft portion, as well as that of the caudal and anal, is thickly 

 covered with scales. Pectorals oval, the fourth and fifth rays longest, the first simple and 

 very short. Ventral arises under the middle of the pectorals, and hence would be considered 

 as an abdominal fin ; but the basin is suspended to the bones of the shoulder, and hence we 

 consider it sub-brachial. A small scaly fold above its base, forms a slight furrow for its recep- 

 tion. The anal commences under the penultimate spine of the dorsal, and is coterminal with 

 that fin. Caudal crescent-shaped. 



Color, as it appeared in liquor, brown, deeper on the fins and snout. 20 - 22 longitudinal 

 lines beneath, and 10 - 12 above the lateral line. 



Length, 5'0. 



Fin rays, D. 11.12; P. 19; V. 1.5; A. 3.13; C. 17. 



