MALACOPTERYGII ADDOMINALKS. 317 



less (lisa2;recable than that of the other Siluri. Some American species, with the ncad small, rounded, and blunt, 

 having three cirii, and the eyes scarcely perceptible, may form a new subji"enus. 



M;/.fti/.y, are ^ihin n ith a second or adipose dorsal hn. They arc found in the waters of Guiana. 



i^';r/('/f>(/e.v, body niiked, anil no lateral armature; but the subi^cnus requires division and subdivision. First, 

 Ba_</nis has small ci-owded teeth in both jaws and the vomer, and may be subdivided by the number of cirri, and 

 the shape of the head. With eif^ht cirri, some have the head long and depressed, and others short and broad. 

 With six cirri, some have the snout as depressed, and broader than that of the Pike; others have the head oval, 

 and a kind of helmet of sha^reen-like hones ; in others, the head is round and naked ; while othei'S, again, hLve 

 the head greatly depressed, the eyes low down, and the adipose fin very small ; and there are yet others which 

 lia\c only foui* cirri. [Some of these, as Plmclodes cyclopum, are ejected in hot water fiom volcanoes.] 



Phnelodcs, properly so called, want the teeth in the vomer, but often have them in the palate ; the cirri and 

 form of the head ditfer more than in the preceding subgenus; some have but a single row of teeth ; some have the 

 beitd helmeted, and a distinct bony plate between the helmet and the dorsal spine ; others have a single plate from 

 the snout to the dorsal ; others, again, have the head oval and naked ; some with six cirri, and others eight ; some 

 with a large naked head are called Cats, which have six or eight cirri ; then there are otheis which have the head 

 sniall and flat, the dorsal minute, and the teeth scarcely perceptible; there are others still which have teeth on the 

 palatals, sometimes like velvet, or like a card, with a buckler on the nape, distinct or united to the helmet, and 

 tliti: palatal teeth sometimes like a helmet ; some singular ones have teeth like a card, under the skin of the cheek, 

 and moveable; others yet have a lengthened snout, or a pointed one, nearly toothless. Tliese last lead to, — 



SfjnodoniU, with the snout narrow, and the lower jaw supporting an assemblage of teeth laterally flattened, 

 ending in hooks, and individually attached to flexible peduncles. The helmet extends in one plate to the llrtt 

 spine of the dorsal, which is very strong, as are also those of the pectorals; the cirri, and sometimes the maxii 

 laries, are barbed. They are found in the Nile and other African rivers, but are not eaten. 



Ageniosus. Some of these have the maxillary turned up in a kind of toothed horn, instead of a fleshy cirrus ; 

 and others have it concealed under the skin, with the dorsal and pectoral spines scarcely visible. 



7^jr«.v, have an adipose doi-sal, with plates in the lateral line, armed with keels or spines; the dorsal and pectoral 

 spines strongly toothed, the helmet rough, and the shonlder-bone pointed backwards. Some have tcelb only in 

 the upper jaw; others have the snout pointed, and the teeth abseiit, or liardly visilile, with occasional lateral 

 bristles to the cirri. 



llcienibniiivhas, hnad ))rond, from the helmet having two lateral pieces of the frontal and parietal bones ; oper- 

 culnni smaller, but with a tree-like ramification on the third and fourth gill-arch, as a sort of supplemental gills; 

 viscera like the rest of tlic family, but they have from eight to fourteen gill-rays, strong pectoral spines, no dorsal 

 one, and the body long and naked. They inhabit the rivers of Africa, and some of those of Asia. Their flesh is 

 indilTerent, or bad. 



One of them, however, Macropteronotes, with a single indented dorsal, constitutes a considerable article of food 

 in Kgyiit ami Syria, where it is called the Sharmuth, or Black Fish. Others have a dorsal with rays, and also an 

 adipo'se one. I'rolostis, have a second dorsal, with rays ; and this and the anal long, and uniting to form a tail 

 like an !'>! ; lips fle.'^hy ; conical teeth in front of the mouth, globular ones behind, and those above placed on the 

 vomer; skin naked; nine or ten gill-rays; eight cirri ; and a singular branched appendage behind the vent, be- 

 siiles the tubercle common to the fanuly. Some have large and toothed dorsal and ventral spines; others have 

 them almost concealed under the skin. They are found in the East Indies. 



CaU'ichthys, have the sides armed with four rows of scaly plates ; head the same, hut the snout and nnder-part 

 of the body naked ; one ray in the second dorsal ; pectoral spines strmig, and dorsal une feeble; mouth snudl; 

 teeth barely visible; foui- cirri ; eyes small, and lateral. They can crawl out of the water like an Eel. [These are 

 the subgenera of Silurus]- 



Maiopthcrurus, has no dorsals with rays, but only a small adipose one in the tail, and no spines in the pectorals. 

 The skin is smooth ; the teeth small and crowdeil, and are ranged into a broad crescent in each jaw ; tliere are 

 seven liill-rays ; and the jaws and viscera are like those of Silurus. M. clectricuf,-, the Raasch, or Thunder-fish of 

 the Arabs, is the only known species. It has six cirri, and the head more slender than the body, but enlarged in 

 front. Like the Torpedo and Gymnotus, it can communicate an electric shock, the organ of which is situated 

 between the skin and muscles, and consists of a cellular tissue, inclosing a fluid, and abundantly furnished with 

 nerves. It is found in the Nile, and the rivers of Central Africa. 



J.yjredo, have the head flattened, and the anterior part of the body much widened; the tail long; the eyes small, 

 and placed upwards ; the intermaxilhn'ies under the ethmoid directed backwards, and with teeth on the posterior 

 ed"-e onlv and they have the whole gill apparatus immoveable, bemg soldered to the temporal bone and the pre- 

 operculum; gill-opening a mere sbt behind the head, the membrane of five rays adhering everywhere e!.^e ; the 

 lower );uv is transverse, and shorter than the snout ; the first ray of the pectorals is more toothed than in any 

 other of the fannly ; there is but one dorsal, with a weak first ray ; but the anal is long, extending rmder the long 

 and slender tail. Some have six cirri, some eight ; and, in the latter case, one pair are attached to the maxiilaries, 

 the others to the lower jaw in pairs. 



Loricaria, have liard angular plates on the head and body ; small intermaxillaries susi-ended under 

 the muzzle; transverse disunited mandiltles, supporting hooked teeth, which are long, slender, and 

 flexible. A lai-ge membranous veil encircles the opening; the pharynx is furnished with numerous 

 puvcnient teetb ; the gill-lids are immoveable, but two small plates supply their places; thny have four 



