218 UPPER CRETACEOUS TELEOSTS 
513, fig. 6) shows the pelvic girdle of Salmo and illustrates small posterior cartila- 
ginous processes from the ‘ischial plate’. These processes obviously correspond 
to the large ossified processes of Aulopus. 
The pelvic fin is composed of 9 rays all of which are segmented distally. The first 
ray is unbranched, the next three are simply bifurcated whereas the remaining five 
rays are normally branched. Gosline, Marshall and Mead (1966 : 5, fig. 3) have 
noticed the fusion of the ventral half of the innermost pelvic ray with the inner 
radial element. Like the structure of the palatine bone, however, this feature is of 
variable occurence in both salmoniforms and myctophiforms. Also it is a feature 
which is not easily seen in fossil forms and as such has been left out of consideration 
here. 
Vertebral column. The vertebral column is shown in the restoration, Text-figure 
g2. It consists of 50 vertebrae, of which 14 are caudal. The centra are small, 
slightly longer than deep and mesially constricted. Each precaudal centrum bears 
a pair of small ventro-lateral transverse processes. These gradually increase in 
length towards the posterior end of the precaudal region. The transverse processes 
support thin, needle-like pleural ribs which are longest anteriorly but decrease in size 
posteriorly. The first precaudal vertebra articulating with the occipital condyle 
does not possess either transverse processes or pleural ribs. The neural arches along 
the entire length of the column are well ossified and intimately connected with the 
centra. The neural spines arise towards the posterior end of each arch. The 
neural spine of the first vertebra has become fused with the first accessory radial to 
produce an expanded plate of bone extending upwards in the mid-dorsal line. This 
plate extends back and tapers to end above the fifth precaudal vertebra. Two or 
three additional, unexpanded accessory radials occur posterior to the first and are 
ligamentously attached to the neural spines of precaudal vertebrae 3, 4 and 5. 
Prezygapophyses and postzygapophyses occur throughout the column but are never 
particularly prominent. Epineurals and epipleurals are associated with the 
precaudal vertebrae. 
Median fins and tail. The median fins are shown in the restoration, Text-figure 
92. The dorsal fin is in the second quarter of the back and consists of 16 rays. 
None of the rays is excessively elongate, the longest being the second and third. 
The first ray is the shortest and is unbranched, the longer second one is also un- 
branched. All of the rays are segmented. The dorsal fin radials are long and thin 
except for the anteriormost one which is expanded into an anterior keel-like 
structure. 
The anal fin occurs towards the posterior end of the body, well behind the dorsal 
fin. Eleven rays are present and again none is excessively elongate. The third and 
fourth rays are the longest. The first three rays are unbranched. None of the 
radials is expanded. 
An adipose fin without any skeletal components is positioned above the centre of 
the anal fin. 
The caudal skeleton (Text-fig. 93) is composed of five vertebrae : two free preural 
vertebrae (preurals 2 and 3) ; one fused vertebra (preural 1 and ural 1) ; and 
