PISCES. 219 



ORDER II. 



MALACOPTERYGII ABDOMINALES(l). 



In this order the ventrals are suspended to the under part of the 

 abdomen and behind the pectorals, without being attached to the 

 bones of the shoulder. It is the most numerous of the three, and 

 comprehends most of the fresh-water fishes. We subdivide it into 

 five families. 



FAMILY I. 



CIPRINID^. 



The Ciprinidae are recognized by the slightly cleft mouth; the 

 weak jaws, generally edentated, and whose border is formed by the 

 intermaxillaries; by the deeply dentated pharyngeals which compose 

 the trifling armature of the jaws, and by the smaller number of the 

 branchial rays. Their body is scaly, and they have no adipose dor- 

 sal, such as we shall find in the Siluri and in the Salmons. Their sto- 

 mach has no cul-de-sac, neither are there any caecal appendages to 

 their pylorus. Of all the fishes they are the least carnivorous. 



Cyprinus, Lin. 

 A very numerous and natural genus, easily distinguished by the small mouth, 

 edentated jaws, and the three flat rays of the branchiae. The tongue is 

 smooth; the palate provided with a thick, soft, and singularly irritable sub- 

 stance commonly termed a " carp's tongue." The pharynx presents a 

 powerful instrument of mastication, consisting of stout teeth attached to the 

 inferior pharyngeals, which are so arranged as to be able to squeeze ali- 

 mentary matters between them, and of a stony disk set in a wide cavity un- 

 der a process of the sphenoid. These fishes have but one dorsal, and their 

 body is covered with scales which most commonly are very large; they live 

 in fresh water, and are perhaps the least carnivorous of the whole class, 

 feeding chiefly on seeds, grass, and even ooze. 



They are variously subdivided. To Cyprinus proper, or the true Carps, 

 belongs the well known 



(1) Malacopterygii, soft-finned. 



