REPORT ON FOSSIL FISHES. 49 
cleft and inequilobate, the upper lobe being about twice the length of the lower, 
and nearly equalling one-third of the entire length of the fish ; its delicate rays 
are similar in character to those of the dorsal and anal. Delicate fulcra are 
observable on the anterior margins of all the fins. 
I take the liberty of dedicating this highly interesting species to Professor 
Ramsay, Director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, to whose kindness, 
and to that of Professor Grixiz, I am indebted for the privilege of describing 
this remarkable collection of fossil fishes. 
Geological Position and Locality—Near Glencartholm, Eskdale, in the 
Cement-stone group of the Calciferous Sandstone series. 
Canobius elegantulus, sp. nov. Traquair. 
Pl. V, figs. 5-8. 
Description.—Length from 2 to 23 inches ; length of head contained nearly 
five times, greatest depth of the body about 33 times in the total. Shape 
shortly fusiform, rapidly tapering towards the tail, the upper lobe of which is 
elongated. 
The head is short and deep. 
The cranial roof bones, which are Paleeoniscoid in form and arrangement, are 
marked externally with tolerably sharp, tortuous, and often reticulating ridges. 
The direction of the suspensorium is nearly vertical, the posterior margin of the 
opercular flap evenly rounded. The operculum is a quadrate plate with rounded 
off posterior-superior angle, but its lower margin is not quite so oblique as in the 
last-described species; it is succeeded below by an interoperculum of nearly 
the same size, but having its posterior-inferior angle correspondingly rounded 
off. The preeoperculum is very difficult of detection, but seems to me to be 
represented by a very narrow plate in front of the operculum and interoper- 
culum. In front of this there is, instead of the one long vertical suborbital 
which we saw to exist in Canobius Ramsayi, a chain of three or four short 
ones, in front of which again there is a circle of long, narrow curved ossicles, 
whose number is uncertain, apparently surrounding the entire orbit, which is 
proportionally very large, and seems indeed to occupy almost the entire space 
between the snout and the opercular bones. There is considerable difficulty 
in making out the exact form of the jaw bones. One thing is however certain, 
viz., that the maxilla has not the shape usually found in the Paleoniscide, 
but has a somewhat triangular form, more resembling that in certain Platy- 
somide, such as Mesolepis. The gape seems to be small, and the mandible 
delicate ; no teeth can be seen on either jaw. The bones of the face are, like 
those of the cranial roof, sculptured externally with tolerably fine, and occa- 
sionally flattened, tortuous ruge. 
