292 CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES. 



family or sub-family of Clupeince, we shall just advert 

 to the analogies which seem to result from the disposition 

 we have made of the various groups, by instituting a 

 comparison between the 



Analogies of the Clupein^ and the Salmonid^.- 



Primarv Types of the Jrininrri^i Primary Types of the 



Herrings. Analogies. Salmons. 



rBody much compressed ; mouth ) chnrnr?rti,<; or <f^r 

 Clupea. > small, obliquely vertical ; body C ^''^Zmn 



i sharp and serrated. 3 '"*'^""°- 



r Mouth larger, more horizontal;^ 

 Elops. \ belly (typically) smooth ; body > Salmo. 



(_ not much compressed. j 



r Mouth excessively large; teethe 

 Osteoglossum. \ strong, numerous; head com- ^Xiphostoma. - 



C pressed. 3 



^ , _, jT /ON f Mouth completely vertical; noVc^ j 



Odontognathus (?). ^ ^^^^ g^^^ f ^ j j Sternoptyx. 



Chirocentrus. Dorsal fin close to the caudal. Sudis (?). 



The reader will remember that we have considered 

 Lacepede's genus Serrasalmo as one of the typical re- 

 presentatives of the American salmons ; and it is interest- 

 ing to see how much they accord with that of Clupea : 

 both have the body greatly compressed, and much 

 broader than any of their congeners ; both have the mouth 

 small and obliquely vertical — at least such is the direction 

 of the lower portion of the jaws in Serrasalmo; and 

 both have the very unusual character of the belly being 

 sharp and serrated. In Elops and Salmo, on the other 

 hand, the form of the body is more lengthened; the 

 beUy is neither sharp nor serrated ; the mouth is cleft 

 almost horizontally ; and the very aspect of the two 

 groups show an intimate resemblance. This, indeed, 

 cannot be said of the external form of Osteoglossum and 

 Xipliostoma; and yet there are paints which intimate a 

 similarity of structure, and, consequently, of habits : each 

 has the largest mouth in its own circle ; the teeth in both 

 are slender, unequal, and numerous : but the tnith is, that 

 each contains very few species ; so that, as there are no 

 very aberrant examples, there are no intermediate links of 

 connection. "We before remarked, that Cuvier intimates 

 a resemblance between Osteoglossum a.nd Sudis; and we 



