THE OSTEOLOGY AND RELATIONSHIP OF THE PERCOL 

 DEAN FISH, DINOLESTES LEWINI. 



By Edwin Chapin Starks, 



Assisiant Professor in the Department of Biology and Curator of the Museum, University 

 of Washington, Seattle, Washington. 



As a preliminary to this paper I will quote a paragraph, from a pa])er 

 by Dr. Theodore Gill, " On the identity of Esox lewini with the Dino- 

 lestes millleri of Klnnzinger," published about twenty-five years ago 

 in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. In it he gives the 

 following concise history of Dinolestes: 



In the tenth volume ("the class Pisces") of the "Animal Kingdom" of Cuvier, 

 edited by Edward Griffith (1834), are a figure (plate 60) and a brief notice (p. 465) 

 of a fish which has long been a puzzle to me. It is called Esox lewini and only- 

 noticed as follows : " Our figure of Esox letvini is from a drawing by Mr, Lewin, made 

 in New Holland, of a species not hitherto noticed." It was evident that the species 

 thus named belonged neither to the genua -Esox nor anywhere near it; and (1) the 

 relations of the fins, (2) the position of the ventrals with a spine and five rays each, 

 (3) the form of the head, and (4) the teeth indicated for it affinity to Chilodipterus and 

 allied forms; but no first dorsal fin was represented. The question then arose 

 whether that fin had been atrophied (as in Aspidophoroides, GoMopus, etc.) or (as was 

 more likely) had been overlooked. After nearly forty years the species has been 

 recovered, and singularly enough, after having escaped the observation of the num- 

 erous collectors in the Australian seas for so long a time,' has in the same year been 

 obtained and described by three difterent naturalists under as many names, viz, Dino- 

 lestes millleri by Klunzinger, Neosphyrcena multiradiata by Castelnau, and Lanioperca 

 mordax by Giinther. There can be no question about at least the generic identity of 

 the Esox lewini with the fishes described by the three contemporaries ; and it now 

 appears that the first dorsal fin exists, but is quite small, and sustained by only four 

 or five spines. Klunzinger and Castelnau refer the type to the family Sphyrsenidse, 

 and Giinther (with more justification I think) to the "Apogonina," i. e., Chilodip- 

 teridse. 



This work was undertaken at Dr. Gill's suggestion in the hope of 

 finding, in a comparative study of the skeleton of Dinolestes with those 

 of the Sphyrsenidse and the Cheilodipteridce, some characters that 



' It is said, however, by Castelnau to be common [at Melbourne] in the months of 

 May, June, and July ; it attains 2 feet in length. The fishermen call it " Shij) Jack," 

 but that name is more particularly applied to Temnodon saltator. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXII-No. 1186. 

 Proc. N. M. vol. xxii 8 113 



