4 - PLEUliO.XECTID.E. 



only ; ventral fins with 4 to 7 soft rays and no spine. Vertebrae 24 to 65. 

 Air-bladder absent. 



Distributed over the seas of the whole world ; a few species confined 

 to or entering fresh waters. The latter, in Africa, belonging to two 

 genera : — 



Cleft of mouth wide, with teeth of unequal size ; 



lateral line single ; pectoral fins present ; 



caudal fin distinct from dorsal and anal . .1. Cithariclithjs, Blkr., p. 4. 



Mouth small, teeth minute; two or three lateral 



lines ; no pectoral fins ; caudal fin confluent [p. 5. 



with dorsal and anal 2. Cynoglossus, Ham. Buch., 



1. CITHARICHTHYS. 



Bleek. Versl. Alt. Amsterd. xiii. 1862, p. 427 ; Gunth. Cat. Fish. iv. p. 420 

 (1862). 



Eyes on the left side. Mouth wide, with teeth of unequal size, in a 

 single series in both jaws ; no teeth on the palate ; gill-membranes 

 broadly united below the throat. Dorsal fin originating on the snout; 

 caudal distinct ; pectoral and ventral well developed, the latter with 6 

 rays. Scales rather small, ctenoid on coloured side ; lateral line single, 

 straight. Vertebrae 33 to 40. 



North Pacific and Tropical Atlantic Oceans ; oue species ascending 

 rivers in West Africa. 



1. CITHARICHTHYS SPLLOPTERUS. 

 Gunth. t. c. p. 421 ; Steind. Sitzb. Ak. Wien, lx. i. 1870, p. 975 ; Jord. & Goss, 



Rep. U.S. Fish Comm. f. 1886, p. 276 (18S9) ; Jord. & Everm. Fish. 



N. Amer. iii. p. 2685 (1898). 

 Citharichth/s guatimalemis, Bleek. Nederl. Tijdschr. Dierk. ii. 1864, p. 73. 

 Hemirhombus fuscus, Poey, Repert. fis.-nat. Cuba, ii. p. 406 (1868). 

 Ijemirhombus stampfiii, Steind. Notes Leyd. Mus. xvi. 1894, p. 52, pi. iii. fig. 3. 



Depth of body 2 to 2^ times in total length, length of head 3| to 

 3f times. Eyes nearly exactly superposed, narrowly separated from 

 each other, diameter 5 to 7 times in length of head ; jaws equal in 

 front, upper extending to below centre or posterior border of eye ; 

 anterior teeth largest. Gill-rakers rather long, 14-16 on lower part of 

 anterior arch. Pectoral about § length of head. Djrsal 77-86. Anal 

 57-64. Caudal rounded. Scales 45-52 ^4|. Coloured side brown. 



