FAMILY, IV— CTPRINODONTID^. 



521 



Family, IV— CYPEINODONTID^. 



Branchiostegals from four to six : pseudobranchise absent. Eyes lateral. Margin of the upper jaw 

 formed solely by the premaxiUaries. Barbels absent. Teeth in both jaws, also in the superior and inferior 

 pharyngeal bones. A single spineless dorsal fin situated in the posterior half of the body. Scales on head 

 and body. Stomach without any blind sac. No pyloric appendages. Air-vessel simple, and destitute of a 

 pneumatic duct. 



This family has been sub-divided into : — Cyprmodontidce cwrnworce having united mandibles and short 

 intestines ; and G. liimnopliagoe having separated mandibles and long intestines. 



SYNOPSIS OF GENERA. 



1. Gyprmodon. Mandibular bones united. Teeth in a single row. 



2. SwplochllMS. Mandibular bones united. Teeth in narrow bands. Anal fin more or less elongated. 



Genus, 1 — Ctpeinodon, Laaepede. 



LeUas, Cuvier : ApJianms, Nardo : Mioromugil, Gulia. 



Gape of mouth small: mandibles short amd united at the symphysis. Teeth of moderate size, in a single 

 compressed row, and notched at their summits. Origin of dorsal fm anterior to that of the amal, and la/rgest in the 

 male sex. Scales rather large. The colour of the sexes often different. Intestines of moderate length or rather short. 



Geographical distribution.— Southern Europe, JSTorth Africa, Syria, Persia, along the shores of the Red Sea 

 to Cutch. 



SYNOPSIS OP INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 

 1. Gyprimodon dispa/r, D. 9, A. 10, L. 1. 25-27, L. tr. 8. Grayish : the caudal fin in the males with dark 

 semilunar vertical bands : narrow vertical bands on the body in the female. Cntch. 



1. Gyprinodon dispar, Plate CXXI, fig. 1 (male), 2 (female). 

 Lebias dispa/r, Riippell, Atl. Fisohe, p. 6C, t. 18, f. 1 (male), 2 (female). 

 Gyprinodon Iwnatus, Cuv. and Val. xviii, p. 161. 



Gyprinodon hammonia, Richardson, P. Z. S. 1856, p. 371 (not Cuv. and Val.) 



Gyprinodon dispa/r, Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 303 (not P. Z. S. 1859, p. 470) ; Klunz. Verb. z. b. Ges. Wien, 

 1871, p. 587. 



Gyprinodon StoliczJeanus, Day, Journ. As. Soc. of Beng. 1872, p. 258. 

 B. iii, D. 9, P. 17, V. 7, A. 10, C. 15, L. 1. 25-27, L. tr. 8. 



Length of head 3f to 4, of caudal 6 to 5^, height of body 3f to 4 in the total length. Eyes — diameter 

 3j ia the length of the head, nearly 1 diameter from the end of snout, and li- apart. Lower jaw somewhat the 

 longer, the maxilla does not reach to below the front edge of the eye. Teeth— in a single tricuspid row in both 

 jaws. Fins — dorsal elevated in the male, it commences midway between the middle of the eye and the base 

 of the caudal fin, and above the tenth scale : whereas in the female it is not elevated and commences midway 

 between the opercle and base of the caudal. Ventral is also elongated in the males but not in the females. 

 Caudal lunate. Colours — Male : greenish-yellow reticulated with darker, a small dark shoulder spot. Dorsal 

 fin spotted, anal more sparingly so. Caudal yellowish, with a wide crescentic black band, having a white 

 edge in its last half : another narrow one between it and the ' root of the caudal which is also dark. Female : 

 silvery, with from seven to nine narrow vertical bands. 



Ova very large, almost equalling the diameter of the eye. Length of the intestinal canal about three 

 times that of the abdomen. 



Habitat. — Abyssinia, Palestine, shores of the Red Sea, and common in Cutch, from whence Dr. 

 Stohczka brought 28 specimens. 



Genus, 2 — BLiPLOCHrnTS, McGlelland. 



Aplocheihis, McClelland : Panchax, Cuv. and Val. : Zygonectes, Agassiz : Micristius, Gill. 



Branchiostegals from five to six. Body somewhat elongated and compressed. Upper swrface of head and 

 nape broad and depressed. Mandibula/r bones united at the symphysis. Teeth villiform in the jaws, present or absent 

 on the palate. Dorsal fm short, commencing behind the origin of the anal, which latter has an elongated base. 

 Scales cycloid and of medium, size. Lateral-line absent. Intestinal canal of moderate length. 



Blocker restricts genus Panchax to those species possessing palatine teeth : and Saplochilus to those 



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