406 CYPEINODONTID^. 



HAPLOML 

 CYPRINODONTID^;. 



Mouth protractile, the maxillaries excluded from the oral border; teeth in the jaws 

 and on the pharyngeal bones ; pterygopalatine arch weak or rudimentary ; opercular 

 bones all well developed. Prsecaudal vertebrae with strong parapophysis, bearing the 

 ribs ; epipleurals inserted on the ribs. Post-temporal forked. Ventral fins, if present, 

 with 5 to 7 rays. 



Small or very small fishes, mostly confined to fresh or brackish water. In many 

 species the sexes are dissimilar, the female being larger and less brilliantly coloured, 

 with smaller fins. Many species are viviparous. From a physiological point of view, 

 this family may be divided into carnivorous forms with short digestive tract, and 

 phytophagous or limnophagous forms, in which the intestine is very long and much 

 coiled up. All the African genera belong to the former division. 



About two hundred and twenty species are known, mostly from the American 

 continent, only about fifty being known from other parts of the world, viz. : Southern 

 Europe, Southern Asia, China and Japan, and Africa. Forty species occur in the latter 

 part of the world, falling into five genera, three of which are represented in the Nile 

 system, and distinguished as follows : — 



Teeth tricuspid ; dorsal fin originating in advance of the anal . . . . 1. Cyprinodon, Lacep. 

 Teeth conical; dorsal fin originating in advance of or opposite to the 



origin of the anal 2. Fundulus, Lacep. 



Teeth conical ; dorsal fin originating behind the origin of the anal ... 3. Haplochilus, McCl. 



1. CYPRINODON. 



Lacepede, Hist. Poiss. v. p. 486 (1803) ; Giinther, Cat. Fish. vi. p. 301 (1866). 



Lebias, Cuvier, Regne Anim. ii. p. 199 (1817). 



Aphanius, Nardo, Prodr. Adr. Ichthyol. pp. 17 & 23 (1827). 



Micromugil, Ghilia, Tent. Ichthyol. Melit. p. 11 (1861). 



Mouth small ; mandible short, with the bones on each side firmly united ; teeth of 

 moderate size, tricuspid, in a single series. Scales rather large. Dorsal fin originating 

 in advance of the anal, both fins larger in the males than in the females. Ventral 



