50 
PISCES ABDOMINALES. 
FISHES WHOSE VENTRAL FINS ARE SITUATED BEHIND THE PECTORAL FINS, 
OR ON THE ABDOMEN. 
SILURUS. 
GENERIC CHARACTER. 
Caput nudum, magnum, latum , compressum; 
os cirris aliquot tentaculatum; rictus et 
faux ampla; labia crassa; mandibula 
dentata; lingua crassa, lavis, hrevissima. 
Oculi parvi. Membrana branchiostega 
radiis iv.—xvi. 
Corpus elongatum, compressum, squamis nu¬ 
dum, muco tenace obductum; linea lateralis 
dorso propinqua ; pinnarum pectoralium 
aut dorsalis radius primus spinosus retro 
dentatus. Gmelin. 
The head naked, big, broad, compressed. 
Some cirri at the mouth ; the mouth 
and throat wide; lips thick ; the jaws 
denticulate; the tongue thick, very 
short, smooth. Eyes small. From four 
to sixteen rays in the branchial mem¬ 
brane. 
The body elongated compressed, without 
scales ; covered with a slimy mucus; 
the lateral line near the back ; the first 
ray of the dorsal or the pectoral fin, 
spinous, and serrated behind. 
No. CLXV. 
Silurus corpore longo, cultrato; pinna dorsali unica, quinque radiata, radio primo serrato; 
cirris quatuor ; cauda Jalcata, lobis inequalibus. 
The Silurus with a long knife-form body; a single dorsal fin consisting of five rays, the 
first serrated ; four cirri; a falcate tail with unequal lobes. 
Called by the Natives Wallagoo. 
JL _JL 
B. xix. D. 5. P. 16. V. 10. A. 91. C. 19. 
The body long, compressed, without scales, adipose, slippery. 
The head depressed, covered with the common skin, through which the sutures are visible; the rostrum 
short, rounded. The mouth oblique, large, wide, with hardly any lips. Jaws not extractile, nearly equal; both 
full of numerous, small, crooked teeth, close, disposed in many ranks; those in the inner ranks largest. 
