HAPLOMI 



615 



Fam. 9. Chirothricidae. — Praemaxillaries delicate and styli- 

 form, completely excluding the maxillaries from the upper border 

 of the mouth ; jaws with feeble dentition or toothless ; opercular 

 apparatus complete. Praecaudal vertebrae with robust para- 

 pophyses, to which ribs are attached. Ventral fins far forwards. 



These Fishes, of which three fossil genera are known from the 

 ■Cretaceous of Germany and Syria, appear to be related to the 

 Scopelidae, from which the strong parapophyses distinguish them. 

 Chirothrix is remarkable for its excessively enlarged ventral fins 

 with about 1 7 rays ; these fins were taken for the pectorals by 





Fig. 373. — Chirothrix libanicus, restored bj' A. S. ■Woodward. 



the early describers. In Telepholis and Exocoetoides, the ventral 

 fins are smaller than the pectorals, and formed of 7 or 8 rays only ; 

 the dorsal region, in the former, is protected by a covering of 

 small, thin, rounded or polygonal dermal scutes, each bearing a 

 median tubercle. 



Fam. 10. Kneriidae. — Margin of the upper jaw formed by 

 the praemaxillaries ; mouth toothless, not protractile. Parietals 

 separated by the supraoccipital. Pharyngeal bones toothless. 

 Praecaudal vertebrae with parapophyses. Body covered with 

 small scales. Ventrals with 9 rays. No adipose dorsal fin. 

 Air-bladder present. 



