ANALOGIES OF THE PIKES. 



307 



Circle of the 



Malacopteryges. 



Salmonid^. 

 Pleuronectid^. 



GADIDiE. 



SlLURID^. 

 COBITIDiS. 



Types of the 



EsOCINiE, 



Bamphistoma. 



Esox. 



Analogies. 



Typical. 



Sub- typical 



f Dorsal fin placed close to the 

 \ head; mouth very large. 



r Snout depressed; body covered^ 



< with osseous plates or scales; ^ Lepisosieus (?). 



(. fins with spines on the first ray. J 



i Leptodes. 



Mouth very small. 



Exocetus. 



We thus find Lepisosteus to be among the pikes^ what 

 Loricaria is among the silures ; because, as the latter 

 genus is pre-eminently typical, it of course stands as the 

 representative of its own family. We must remember, 

 also, that Lepisosteus is the only pike, or, indeed, the 

 only genus yet discovered in the whole of the Salmonidce, 

 that has the first ray of the fins spinous ; and this pe- 

 culiarity of structure makes them representations also of 

 the cheloniform fishes, or the Pkctognathes — the types 

 of which, as in the Balistidce, have the first dorsal ray 

 almost always armed with prickles. 



(257-) Lastly, we may compare the divisions of the 

 pikes with those of the herrings; for although the ana- 

 logies, in one respect, cannot be made out, the others are 

 very observable. 



Genera of the 

 Pikes. 



Bamphistoma. 



Esox. 



Leptodes. 



Lepisosteus. 



Exocetus. 



Analogies. 



Genera of the 

 Herrings. 



("Body considerably compressed;")^, 



t teeth minute or none. ^uupea. 



Body rounded ; teeth strong. Elops. 



S^'SLt'^""'^^'^^ ^^'^^' ^""^lOsteoglossum. 



Pristogaster. 

 i Chirocentrus. 



\ oblique, 

 ? 



f Belly compressed ; dorsal fin near 

 X the caudal. 



It is the total absence of all resemblance between Le- 

 pisosteu.s and Pristogaster which makes us believe that 

 the former enters as a sub-genus among the gar-fish, or 

 the PamphistomcE, and that the real type between Exo- 

 eetus and Leptodes has either not been discovered, or is 

 unknown to us. This, however, has not the least effect 



X 2 



