14 



BRITISH FOSSILS. 



(1850), Sir Philip Egerton describes and figures a specimen of 

 Ccelacanthus granulatus in his own collection. 



" It shows little more of the fish than the figures given by Agassiz ; 

 but the scales are in a better state of preservation ; they are irregularly 

 rounded, and marked by fine undulating concentric lines. The enamel 

 is thickly covered v^ith the granulations which suggested the specific 

 name. The second dorsal fin is also shown ; it seems to have been 

 larger and the rays thicker than in the anal fin opposed to it. The 

 extremity of the tail is dislocated, and is seen in the lower part of the 

 plate," p. 235. 



The next page of the Avork cited contains the description of — 

 Ccelacanthus caudalis. 



" There is a charming little specimen, in the possession of Lord 

 Enniskillen, of a Coelacanth, which I am inclined to think can scarcely 

 be referred to the preceding species. The entire length does not 

 equal that of the tail of the smallest specimen of Ccelacanthus granu- 

 latus I have seen. The latter species is supposed by Agassiz to 

 have been two feet in length ; this fish measures only five inches. The 

 head is rather more than a fifth of the total length ; the second fifth 

 includes the first dorsal, the third fifth extends to the back of the second 

 dorsal, and from thence to the end of tail, occupies the two remaining 

 fifths. This large proportion of the caudal region inclines me to adopt 

 the specific name given above. The body is slender and of uniform size. 

 The first dorsal fin is composed of about eight strong rays ; these are 

 carried upon thick inter-apophyses ; and the corresponding neurapo- 

 physial elements of the vertebrae are enlarged to support them. The 

 same arrangement is seen in the second dorsal, but the fin rays are more 

 slender and more numerous. The pectoral, ventral, and anal fins are 

 of moderate dimensions and slender structure. The tail is broader, 

 and terminates more abruptly, than that organ in Ccelacanthus granu- 

 latus.''^ 



The only other descriptions of Coelacanths (other than Macro- 

 poma) of which I have any knowledge, are contained in the 

 following brief notes upon Carboniferous fishes of the United 

 States, entitled "Description of several new genera and species 

 of Fossil Fish from the Carboniferous Strata of Ohio," by Dr. 

 Newberry, contained in the " Proceedings of the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences of ^Philadelphia," vol. viii. p. 98, 1854. 



Ccelacanthus, Agass." 



1. C. ROBUSTUS, Newb. Body robust, 1 foot 6 inches in 

 length; upper surface of cranium covered with small closely- 

 approximated tubercles, maxillaries and opercula threaded with fine 

 parallel, sometimes interrupted, lines. Margin of opercula in 

 mature specimens wavy. 



" Scales elliptical, thin, 7 to 9 lines in length, nearly half the 

 surface exposed ; exposed portion covered with thread-like lines, 

 similar to those of the opercula and maxiUaries, and which con- 

 verge towards the posterior angle of the scale. 



" C. ORNATUS, Newb. Body, fusiform, slender, scarcely wider 



