12 
Genus — APATEOLEPIS, gen. noc. 
Gen. Char. — Body slender ; head of moderate size ; snout prominent ; 
siispensorinm very ohliqne, and gape wide ; teeth minute. Pins well- 
developed ; the dorsal very high, triangular in form, with a short base-line 
placed opposite the space hctAveen the pelvics and the anal ; anal fin also 
triangular, witli a short l)ase-line ; upper lohe of tail much produced, the 
caudal fin being powerful and deeply forked ; fulcra absent. Scales of the 
trunk rhomhoidal, extremely delicate, marked by two or three diagonal 
ridges ; those upon the sides of the upper lohe of the tail thicker, oat-shaped, 
similarly ornamented ; a prominent fulcral scries upon the sujierior margin of 
the caudal lohe. 
Ohs. — This new genus of Pala^oniscidai may appropriately receive the 
name of Apateolepis, in allusion to the deceptive character of its sqnamation. 
The scales of the whole of the body except the upper caudal prolongation, arc 
so delicate that they are either only imperfectly ]>reserved, or completely 
destroyed ; and the latter is so often the case, that one might at first sight 
suspect a resemblance to the extinct Chondrosteus and the modern Tohjodon, 
in having the sqnamation exclusively confined to the caudal lohe. 
Only two Palmoniscidic of a similar type seem to have been hitherto 
diseovered ; and it is interesting to know that both of tiiese agree Avitli the 
present form in tlie singular absence of fin-fulcra. The first genus is 
tliat described by Dr. Traquair, from the Lower Carboniferous of Eskdale, 
Dumfriesshire (Scotland), under the name of Fhanerosteon^ ; and the second 
is a fish from the Erie Shale of Ohio, more recently briefly noticed by Dr. 
NeAvherry under the name of Actinophorus\ . According to Dr. Traquair, 
Thanerosteon Avas quite destitute of scales upon the flank, with the excep- 
tion of a fcAV thin examples immediately behind the pectoral arch ; and this 
genus is still further distinguislied from Apateolepis by the character of the 
dorsal fin, and the less pronounced bifurcation of the caudal. Aciinophorus 
is a long, slender fish, with pointed head, attaining a much greater size than 
either of the foregoing ; and though the Avliole of the flank is coA’ered by 
thin quadrangular scales, these, according to the definition, Avill differ from 
those of Apateolepis at least in their narroAvness. 
* R. H. Traquair, “ Report on Fossil Fislies collected in Eskdale and Liddesdale,” Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin- 
burgh, 1881, Vol. XXX, pp. 89-4.3, Rl. iii, figs. 6-8. 
t J. S. Newberry, “The Fish Fauna of the Erie Shale of Ohio,"’ Trans. New York Acad. Sci., 1888, 
A'ol. vii, No. 7. 
