398 FOSSIL FISH. 



the surface of the stone. It was a squamous, and probably an 

 abdominal fish. The body is fusiform and thick : the head 

 moderate and well proportioned; the jaws are armed with very 

 fine teeth ; the eyes are large and placed high ; the pectoral 

 members are remarkable for their length and scythe-like form. 

 This fossil has great affinities with some species of salmon, 

 especially with those called Elopa by Bloch. 



Esox incognitus, De Blain. A specimen in the French Mu- 

 seum, from the same limestone, but the locality is unknown ; 

 clearly a fish, abdominal, and pretty long. From the disposi- 

 tion of the dorsal and anal fins, this ichthyolite may be regarded 

 as belonging to the pike genus ; still M. de Blainville puts this 

 in the form of a query. 



In the chalk formation, near Brussels, among the remains of 

 fossil fish, there is but one species about which any approaches 

 to certainty have been made. M. de Blainville thinks it may 

 belong to pleuronectes, and that it approximates to pleuronectes 

 maximus (the turbot.) But even this seems questionable. 



In the crag-limestone, below the gypsum, in the quarries of 

 Nanterre, has been found. 



Labrus Julis 9 An impression or relief, with some remains 

 of skeleton. It indicates a fish evidently normal, fusiform, 

 exhibiting but a single dorsal fin, which commences immediately 

 from the nape, and extends to the posterior third of the body. 

 It appears to have thirty and odd radii. The number of ver- 

 tebrae is from twenty-four to twenty-six. The head is pretty 

 large ; the orbits moderate ; the opercle large, and greatly 

 cleft. There are traces of but one member, which M. de Blain- 

 ville thinks the pelvian. As its position is pretty forward, the 

 fish may be sub-thoracic. 



The catalogue of Davila speaks of fossil fish found in the 

 quarries of St. Denis. But the author gives neither descrip- 

 tion nor figure on which to found any specific characters. 



Ichthyolites, from Pappenheim and Solenhoffen, are referred 

 by M. de Blainville to the following genera : — 



