150 ICHTHYOLOGIA OHIENSIS 



and obtuse at the end. Eyes round small black, be- 

 fore the mouth, a small nostril in front of them. 

 Mouth large, similar to that of a shark, with small 

 crowded teeth on the jaws and the tongue, this is 

 large thick and similar to a file. Gill cover very 

 long membranaceous reaching the abdominal fins. 

 A lateral line following the curve of the back. All 

 the fins brown, nearly rhomboidal, with an obliqual 

 redish band, and a multitude of small crowded rays, 

 inserted on a thick fleshy lump : the dorsal fin larger 

 and rather more anterior than the anal. Tail very 

 obliqual, serrated above : lobes not very differ- [III, 

 251] ent in size, but extremely in shape and situation, 

 the lower one broader, shorter, and nearly triangular. 



XXXIV Genus. Paddlefish. Planirostra. 

 Planirostre. 



Differs from Polyodon, by having no teeth whatever 

 and the gill-cover radiated with a short appendage. 



By the want of teeth this genus is intermediate be- 

 tween Polyodon and Accipenser. It was first described 

 by Lesueur, under the name of Platirostra (by 

 mistake) instead of Planirostra. I had called it in 

 manuscript Megarhinus paradoxus. 



103d Species. Toothless Paddlefish. Plani- 

 nostra edentula. Planirostre edente. 



Head as long as the body, snout longer than the 

 head, somewhat cuneiform, obtuse, and thin, with 

 two longitudinal nerves \84\ and reticulated veins 

 forming an hexagonal network. Body entirely olive 

 brown. 



Platinostra edentula, Lesueur in Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. 

 Philadelphia, Volume i, page 229. 



This fish is still more rare than the foregoing, but 



