358 
ACTIXOPTERYGII. 
Maximum depth contained somewhat more than eight times in 
total length (excepting rostrum). Vertebrae 32 in abdominal, 
38 in caudal region. Dorsal and anal tins directly opposed, former 
with at least 9, latter with 10 rays. ( Sauvage .) 
Form. 4" Loc.. Upper Miocene: Oran, Algeria. 
Not represented in the Collection. 
The following fragment of a form not represented in the 
Collection has also been ascribed to this genus : — 
Scombresox licatce, H. E. Sauvage, loc. at. 1880, p. 48. Belone 
acutirostris, H. E. Sauvage, loc. cit. 1873, p. 257 (in part), 
fig. 3 ( errore ). — Upper Miocene ; Licata, Sicily. [Im- 
perfect head.] 
Genus HEMIRAMPHUS, Cuvier. 
[Regne Animal, vol. ii. 1817, p. 186.] 
As Belone, but only the mandible produced into an attenuated 
beak. 
Common on the coasts of tropical seas, and some species existing 
in freshwaters. Only one extinct species known, and this not 
represented in the Collection : — 
Hemiramphus edwardsi, E. Bassani, Atti Soc. Veneto-Tront. Sci. 
Nat, vol. v. (1876), p. 146, pi. ii. fig. 1.— Uppor Eocene; 
Moute Bolca, near Verona. 
Family ATHERINIDiE. 
trunk more or less elongate and subcyliudrical. Premaxilla ex 
eluding maxilla from border of upper jaw ; mandible not prominent, 
and cleft of mouth small, with dentition usually feeble ; opercular 
apparatus complete, with about fivo branchiostcgal rays, and the 
gill-opening wide. Lower pharyngeal bones separate. Vertebra: 
numerous, varying from about 30 to 60 in total number; centra of 
abdominal vertebrae with transverse processes for support of slender 
ribs. Pelvic fins with one spine and five divided rays ; two dorsal fins, 
the anterior being spinous ; anal fin opposed to the posterior dorsal. 
Scales in regular series, large or of moderate size. 
In the existing fauna, these are carnivorous fishes inhabiting the 
seas of temperate and tropical regions, while several species enter or 
live entirely in freshwater. No extinct genera are satisfactorily 
determined. 
