ORDER TELEOSTEI. 1005 



of Sheppey, and Platyltzjnus from the Middle Eocene of Brack- 

 lesham, may be provisionally included in this family. 



Family Chromid.e. — The Chromids are a family of small fresh- 

 water Fishes from Palestine, tropical Africa, and America ; and also 

 represented by one genus in India. The scales are usually ctenoid, 

 the lateral line is interrupted, and the teeth of the jaws are very 

 small. To this family is referred the large genus Pyciwsterinx 

 from the Cretaceous of the Lebanon ; and with less certainty 

 Imogaster of the same deposits. 



Suborder 4. Acanthopterygii. — The Acanthopterygii form a 

 very large series characterised by part of the rays of the dorsal, anal, 

 and pelvic fins being non-articulated and forming strong spines. The 

 lower pharyngeal bones are usually separate ; and there is no duct 

 to the swim-bladder. The scales are very generally ctenoid. 



Family OpmocEPHALiDyE. — The Ophiocephalidce are freshwater 

 fishes, almost confined to the Oriental region, in which the long 

 head and body are entirely covered with scales, and the dorsal and 

 anal fins are long and devoid of spines. These fishes are in the 

 habit of burying themselves in the mud during droughts. The type 

 genus Ophiocephalus is represented in the Pliocene of India by 

 species closely allied to, if not identical with some of those now 

 inhabiting the same area. 



Families FisiULARiiDiE and Centriscidje. — The first of these 

 families comprises the marine " Flute-mouths," characterised by the 

 long body and the production of the anterior bones of the skull 

 into a long tube, terminating in the mouth, and by the absence or 

 small size of the scales. The existing genera Fistularia and Aido- 

 sfoma, now found on the borders of the tropical Atlantic and Indian 

 Oceans, are represented in the Eocene of Monte Bolca and Glarus ; 

 while Auliscops, now confined to the Pacific coast of North America, 

 is found in the Eocene of Sumatra. Extinct genera from Monte 

 Bolca are Urosphen and Rhamphosiis — the former characterised by 

 the wedge-like caudal fin, and the latter by a large spiny ray on the 

 neck. A Fistularian, from the Lebanon Cretaceous, has been named 

 Solenognathus, but the name is preoccupied. The Centriscidce, which 

 agree with the Fistulariidce in the structure of the mouth, but differ 

 in the form of the body, are known in a fossil state by a species of 

 the living genus A??iphisi!e, from Monte Bolca. 



Family Mugilid.e. — This and the two next families include 

 fishes characterised by the presence of two distinct dorsal fins, of 

 which the first is either low, or has weak spines ; and by the ab- 

 dominal position of the pelvic fins, which have five rays and one 

 spine. The Grey Mullets inhabit the coasts of tropical and tem- 

 perate seas, and have cycloid scales with no lateral line. The recent 

 genus Mugil occurs in the Upper Eocene of Aix ; and Calamo- 



