LEPIDOSTEUS. 181 



Synopsis of the Mexican and Central-American Species*. 

 I. Snout more than twice as long as the rest of the head ; no series of enlarged 



teeth on the palatines in the adult 1. osstus. 



II. Snout not more than once and a half as long as the rest of the head; a series of enlarged 

 teeth on the palatines iu the adult, as well as in the voung 

 58 to 60 scales in a longitudinal series ; length of head 3 to ^l iu the length of 



the fish (in specimens of 300 to 500 mm.) 2. tristoeckas. 



51 to 54 scales in a longitudinal series ; length of head 3r to 35 in the length 



of the fish (iu specinrens of 450 to 500 mm.) , . . . 3. tropicus. 



1. Lepidosteus osseus. 



Esox osseus, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 313 (1758) '. 



Lepidosteus osseus, Giiuth. Cat. Fish. viii. p. 330 (1870) ^ JorJ. & Kverm. Bull. U.S. Nat. xMun. 

 xlvii. 1896, p. 109' ; Meek, Publ. Columbian Mus., Zool. v. 1901, p. 5 \ 



Snout about 2i times as long as the rest of the head. Dorsal 7-8. Anal S-9. .53 to 62 scales in a 

 longitudinal series. 



Hal. United States from the Great Lakes to the Rio Grande2 3; North-eastern 

 Mexico '^. 



In Mexico recorded by Meek from San Juan in Nuevo Leon, Forlon in Tamaulipas, 

 and Valles in San Luis Potosi. 

 Total leno-th 1500 mm. 



'&"- 



2. Lepidosteus tristoechus. 



Esox tristoechus, Schneid. Bloch's Syst. Ichth. p. 395 (1801) \ 

 Lepidosteus viridis (non Gmelin), Giinth. Cat. Fish. viii. p. 329 (1870) 



* The three species here recognised comprise the subgenera Lepidosteus (L. osseus) and Atractostens 

 (L. tristoechus and L. tropicus). There is a third subgenus, Oijlindrosteus, with the dentition of Lepidosteus 

 but with the snout shorter and broader than in L. osseus, only a little longer than the rest of the head. This 

 subgenus is usually considered to include a single species, L. platystomus, Eafin,, which is said to rano-e from 

 the Great Lakes to Texas. Examination of the specimens in the British Museum leaves no doubt that 3 or 4 

 distinct species belong to this section ; some of these may extend into iN'^orth-eastern Mexico. 



L. productus, Cope, seems to be different from L. pilatystomus or any of the species which I liave seen 

 Specimens of L. platystomus from Illinois and Louisiana have 60 to 62 scales in a longitudinal series and the 

 width of the snout, at the level of the angles of the mouth, not more than + the length of the upper iaw. A 

 fish from St. Louis, received from the Museum of Comparative Zoology, closely resembles L. rilatiistomus and 

 may not be specifically distinct, but has larger scales (55 or .56 in a longitudinal series) and corresponds in 

 every way to L. agassizii, Dum., also described from a St. Louis specimen from the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology. The type of L. arayi, Agass. (600 mm. long), and a much larger specimen, also from Louisiana, 

 differ from L. pjlatystomus in having a much broader snout (width at the angles of the mouth 2-J- in the len"tli 

 of the upper jaw). L. zadocki, Dum., is evidently the same as L. yrayi. 



