1904.] OSTEOLOGY OF CLUPEOID FISHES. 477 



The epipharyngeal teeth and the hypopharyngeal teeth on the 

 fifth cei'atobranchials are larger and more pointed than the teeth 

 of the basibranchial skeleton. A slender cartilaginons fifth 

 epibranchial is present, confluent at its upper end with the 

 cartilaginous postei'ior part of the fourth epibranchial (text-fig. 

 135 B, p. 475). Between the cartilaginous and ossified parts of 

 the fourth epibranchial is a fenesti'a closed by membrane. The 

 first pharyngobranchial is cai'tilaginous and small ; the spicular 

 bone is remarkably long and slender. 



OOILIA NASTJS. 



Material examined. — In addition to a skull specially prepared 

 for the purposes of this investigation fi-om an alcohol- pi-eserved 

 specimen from Kiu Kiang kindly furnished by Mr. G. A. Boulenger, 

 another skull was examined, belonging to a complete skeleton in 

 the Osteological Collection of the British Museum (Brit. Mus. 

 91.1.31.30, Shanghai). 



Cranium (text-fig. 136, p. 478). — The cranium is broad and 

 short, and its posterior surface, instead of rising vertically from 

 the basioccipital, slopes very much forward. The parietal bones 

 nearly meet in front of the supraoccipital. The posteinor temporal 

 groove is shallow, and has neither a pre-epiotic fossa nor a temporal 

 foramen, although on the course of the sutui'e between the frontal 

 and the parietal bones is a minute depression, large enough to 

 admit the point of a pin, which evidently represents the last 

 trace of the closed foramen. There is no auditory fenestra 

 between the pro-otic, exoccipital, and basioccipital bones. 



The bony bullae containing the cfecal diverticula of the swim- 

 bladder are large and prominent. The pro-otic one occupies 

 nearly the whole of the ventro -lateral face of the pro-otic bone, 

 and its upper extremity projects upwards into a lateral vacuity 

 of doubtful homology, but evidently coiresponding with that 

 cavity which in Engraidis lies beneath the lateral temporal groove, 

 bounded above by the frontal and squamosal, below by the post- 

 frontal, pro-otic, and squamosal, behind by the squamosal, and in 

 front by the postf rental. The squamosal bulla is just visible in 

 the hinder part of this vacuity, and also above it, in the floor 

 of the posterior temporal groove. It is freely open below into a 

 large exoccipital bulla*, the equivalent of the fusiform dilatation 

 of the air-duct which in Cluj^ea leads to the pro-otic and squamosal 

 vesicles. Behind this, however, is another smaller exoccipital 

 bulla which is blind posteriorly, and commnnieates anteriorly 

 by a narrow neck with the former exoccipital vesicle. 



The squamosal bone takes no part in the articulation for the 

 head of the hyomandibnlar ; this is formed mainly by the post- 

 frontal, but pai-tly also by the pro-otic. The appearances are 

 such as strongly to suggest that the posterior head of the hyo- 



* These relations can only be made out bj' making suitable incision into the 

 cranial bones. 



