FAMILY, III— NOTIDANID^. 723 



Family, III— NOTIDANID^. 



Spiracles small and on the side of the neck. No membrana nictitans. Gill-openings six or seven. A 

 ■ single spineless dorsal fin placed nearly opposite to the anal : lower caudal lobe present. No pit at the 

 root of the caudal fin. 



Genus, 1 — Notidantjs, Omier. 



Mexanchus and Hepta/nchus, Rafin. : MonopterMnus, pt. Blainv. 



Spiracles small and on the side of the neck. No metribrana nictitans. Mouth crescentie. No labial fold, 

 Gill-opemngs six or seven, and, wide. Teeth in the upper jaw consisting of one or two pairs that are awl-shaped, 

 followed by six broader ones, which have one strong and several smaller cusps. In the lower jaw six large comh-lihe 

 ones on either side, and some smaller lateral ones. A single, spineless, dorsal fin placed opposite the anal : lower 

 caudal lobe present. No pit at the root of the caudal fin. 



Geographical distribution.^ — Seas of tropical and temperate regions. 



Notidanus Indicus, Plate CLXXXIX, fig. 4, 



Cuv. Rfegn. Anim. -. Agassiz, Poiss. Poss. iii, pp. 92, 217, t. E. f. 1 (teeth) ; Gunther, Catal. viii, p. 398. 



Heptanchus Indicus, Miill. and Henle, Plagiost. p. 82, t. xxxii (teeth) ; Temm. and ScUeg. Fauna 

 Japon. Poiss. p. 303; Dumeril, Hist. Nat. Poiss. i, p. 434 ; Maodonald and Barron, P. Z. S. 1868, p. 371, 

 pi. xxxiii. 



Notorhynchus maculatus, Ayres, Proc. Calif. Ac. Nat. Sc. i, p. 72 ; Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1862, 

 p. 495. and 1864, p. 149. 



HeptanohMs maculatus, Girard, U. St. Paoif. Exp. Fish. p. 367. 



Notorhynchus horealis. Gill, 1. c. 1864, p. 150. 



Snout rounded and obtuse. Cleft of mouth wider than deep. TeeiA— opposite the symphysis of the 

 upper jaw is a tooth having a single cusp, those on either side being stronger and denticulated. The central 

 tooth in the lower jaw has no median, but two or three lateral cusps on either side. OoZowrs— gray, with dark 

 blotches and marks. 



Sir W. Elliot obtained an example at Madras, and had a figure taken of it. 



Eabitat.—Sesis of India and South Africa to California. The figure is from a stuffed example in the 

 British Museum, about 4| feet in length. 



4 z 2 



