400 FOSSIL FISH. 



ventral, and extending nearly ta the anal. It has twenty-five 

 rays, all soft. The anal fin is also very much raised, and has 

 but seven rays. The pedicle of the tail, which seems thick 

 and short, is terminated by a very ample and deeply bifurcated 

 fin. All the anterior part of the body is covered with scales, 

 which are large and rounded. 



Pike (^Esox). Sp. E. acutirostrisy De Blain. A fine im- 

 pression, regarded as belonging to the same locality, and 

 figured by Knorr : general form that of sturgeon, but it is more 

 probably a species of pike. The body is fusiform ; the head, 

 moderate, is prolonged in front into a pointed muzzle, which 

 has some resemblance to that of the sea or gar. pike (Esox 

 Bellone), though much less slender. The opercular cleft appears 

 to have been moderate. The pectoral fins are rather small, as 

 well as the ventral, which are triangular, and situated towards 

 the middle of the total length. The anal fin, at the middle of 

 the space which separates the ventral fins from the caudal, is 

 exactly opposite to the dorsal, which is single, and of the 

 same form. Finally, the tail, tolerably long, is terminated by 

 a moderate fin, rather deeply bifurcated, the lobes of which 

 are equal. 



In the little which is seen of the skeleton, the vertebrae are 

 rather numerous, and the apophyses short and weak. The 

 skin was also covered with scales, pretty large, and rounded ; 

 and, according to the remarkable observation of Knorr, a sub- 

 stance is visible in some places, which, he thinks, proceeds 

 from the flesh ; and which, like dried isinglass, detaches, and 

 falls of itself. 



Another impression, represented by Knorr, exhibits, still 

 better, the form of the body of a pike, inasmuch as it appears 

 considerably more elongated and cylindrical; unfortunately, 

 it is not complete. 



Knorr himself regards these two relics of fish as having 

 belonged to Esox Bellone. 



Stromat^eus. Must we regard, says M. de Blainville, as 



