294? CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES. 



disposition of these fins influences that of the others : 

 the ventrals are thus placed in the middle of the body, 

 or about half way between the pectoral and the caudal : 

 the latter is always forked ; and the former, in general, 

 pointed. The whole of these fishes are excessively vo- 

 racious and destructive to others : hence Lacepede has 

 justly said of the common pike, that it is the shark of 

 our ponds and rivers. We accordingly find the mouth to 

 be particularly large, the snout often greatly lengthened, 

 and the teeth, in nearly all instances, numerous and sharp. 

 There is no instance of a second dorsal or adipose fin, 

 as in the salmons ; or of the belly being sharp or serrated, 

 as in the herrings, As to other parts of their structure, it 

 may be mentioned that the margin or edge of the upper 

 jaw is formed by the intermaxillary bones; or, at least, 

 when this is not the case, the maxillaries are without 

 teeth, and partially concealed. Excepting the common 

 pike, and a few others nearly allied to it, the whole of 

 the remainder are* marine fishes. 



(248.) We have already said that the connecting 

 links between the different genera placed by authors in 

 this group, are very few : nevertheless, by the help of 

 these, and of the mode of variation more clearly to be 

 traced in the other divisions, we may arrive at more 

 definite notions as to the probable cause of the natural 

 series than would at first be expected. We have already 

 seen in Chirocentrus, the last genus among the herrings, 

 that the fins are placed almost precisely in the same 

 situations as those of the pikes, although the sharp belly 

 and other characters assimilate those fishes to the Clu- 

 peince. Now this link in the chain is most important; 

 since it not only determines the connection between 

 these two sub-families, but also guides us, in some 

 measure, to look for that group among the pikes which 

 shows the nearest affinity to the Clupeince. Cuvier ap- 

 pears to have had no hesitation in arranging the Exoceti, 

 or flying fish, with the Esocina, close to those long- 

 snouted genera which comprehend the gar-fish. There 

 can be no doubt, however, that the true types of the whole 



