DF.Ei' si:.\ i'isiii-:s .)/ 



SH'iit tribe of lH)ny fishes on the otlicr such as jXTchcs, l)jiss('s, cod, etc. 

 In this case one sc(*s »>;ar i)ikcs, stui-.^cons. the inud-fisli (.1////V/). together 

 with the African Hirhii\ a curious (lanoid encased in hony scales and 

 retainint;- structures wliich l)rini;- it close to the ancestral sharks. A 

 further «!;linii)se of the (lanoids nia>- now he had by returnin*;- near the 

 entrance of the tisli hall and viewin«>; the spoonbill stui-<;-eon { j)( id ( He-fish) 

 t>;roup, in which a number of these eccentric fishes are shown side by side 

 with gar pikes and other characteristic forms from the Lower Mississij)pi. 

 This groups was secured through the Dodge Fund. 



Returning then to the north wing of the gallery the remaining cases 



!-• 1- give characteristic examples of the various groups of 



Bony Fishes ^ ^ , ,, n^ i rr^i & i 



modern bony fishes, or Teleosts. There are twenty- 

 six cases of them in all, but they offer little space in which to illustrate 

 the 10,500 species. For these are the fishes which are dominant in the 

 present age, contributing over nine-tenths of all existing forms and in- 

 cluding nearly all food and game fishes, such as bass, cod, eel and herring. 

 One of the cases of the Teleosts exhibits the grotesque fishes from deep 

 / water, in which they occur to the surprising depth of over 



eep ea 2,000 fathoms. They are usuallv soft in substance. 



Fishes ' J ^ J 



with huge heads and dwarfish bodies, and are often 



provided with illuminating organs like little electric bulbs, which can be 



'^ shunted off or on" by the fish, and enable the fishes either to see their 



neighbors or to attract them. 



The cases should be examined in the order numbered (beginning with 

 14) ; and one may pass in review the cat -fishes, carps, eels, trout, salmon, 

 pike, mullets, mackerel, basses, wTasses, drumfish, sculpins, cods, flat- 

 fishes and anglers. 



Before the visitor has completed his review^ of the gallery, he should 

 examine the three wall-cases which explain the characteristic structures 

 of fishes of different groups, and the way in which the groups are related 

 to one another. In one of these wall-cases various kinds of fishes have 

 been arranged in a genealogical tree, and the lines and labels give an idea 

 of their evolution. 



Among the conspicuous exhibits of the gallery one notices a sun-fish 

 (Mola), which is the largest example of w^hich we have 

 any exact record (it is 9 feet from tip to tip); also a 12 ft. 

 9 in. thresher shark, and a gar pike, 7 ft. 4 in. long. 



In the window are groups showing the shovel-nosed sturgeon, the 

 Window spawning habits of the fresh water dogfish, Amia, and 



Groups the slender-nosed garpike. 



An exhibit of fossil fishes is to be found on the fourth floor. 



[Return to the elevators.] 



