MORMYRINiE. 309 



writers. That this group is related to the Esocince, and 

 yet has a claim to be considered perfectly distinct^ is ad- 

 mitted by Cuvier,who places them at the end of the pikes; 

 observing that "' they will very probably give occasion 

 to form a particular family." That they are also related 

 to the Cyprincp, or carps_, may be inferred from Linnaeus 

 having named one of the species M. Cyp7'ino'ides. Both 

 these opinions are reconciled by the situation we now 

 assign them, as an intermediate or connecting group be- 

 tween these two sub-faraihes. The whole of the species 

 are confined to the fresh waters of Tropical Africa, 

 chiefly those of the Nile and the Senegal; so that, never 

 having seen them in a fresh state, and but in a cursory 

 way in museums, we shall give M. Cuvier's description 

 of their structure nearly in his own words. These, 

 he observes, are fishes with a compressed, oblong, scaly 

 body : the tail is slender at the base, and enlarged to- 

 wards the caudal fin : the head is covered with a naked 

 and thick skin, which envelopes the opercula and the 

 rays of the gills ; so that the aperture is merely a vertical 

 cleft, the branchial rays being five or six : the aperture 

 of their mouth is very small, almost like that of the ant- 

 eaters; and the angles are formed by the maxillary 

 bones : some slender teeth, with their tips emarginate, 

 are on the intermaxillaries and the lower jaw ; while 

 there is a long band of other teeth, small, and crowded, 

 upon the tongue and under the vomer : the stomach is 

 like a rounded sack, followed by two cseca ; and there is 

 a long and slender intestine almost always enveloped in 

 much fat. Among these fishes, thus generally charac- 

 terised, there appear several remarkable variations. 

 The most singular are those which have the muzzle long 

 and cylindrical (^ScropMcephalus longipinnisSw~,Jig. 70.) ; 

 but among these some have the dorsal fin short, while 

 in others it is lengthened. Another sub-division has 

 the muzzle short and rounded; while in a fourth there 

 is a gibbous projection on the upper part of the muz- 

 zle, which extends beyond the mouth. The resem- 

 blance which the long-snouted or typical species bear 



X 3 



