BO NY-PIKE, 
5°7 
quadrangular ganoid type, and the branchiostegal rays having no gular plate 
in advance of them. 
Existing Family. 
As a family, the bony-pikes, of which the common species 
( IjGjyulost&us osteus) is shown in our illustration, are distinguished 
from all other fish by having the bodies of the vertebrae convex in front and con¬ 
cave behind, instead of having both surfaces cupped. The fins are furnished with 
fulcra, the dorsal and anal consisting of soft rays only, and placed far back, and 
near the caudal, which is of the abbreviated heterocercal type ; while the trunk is 
much longer than the abdominal portion of the vertebral column, and the bran¬ 
chiostegal rays are comparatively few, and have not an enamelled outer surface. 
In form, the body of the bony-pikes is elongate and subcylindrical; the long 
muzzle is either spatulate or beak-shaped; the cleft of the mouth wide ; and both 
bony-pike (J nat. size). 
the palate and jaws are armed with bands of rasp-like teeth, and also with larger 
conical ones. There are four gills and three branchiostegal rays on each side ; and 
the air-bladder is cellular. Bony-pike, of which there are three existing species, 
are now confined to North and Central America and Cuba; but they are repre¬ 
sented in the European Eocene, and by allied extinct genera in the Eocene and 
Miocene strata of the United States, one of these also occurring in the French 
Eocene. The existing forms grow to a length of 6 feet, and are carnivorous, feed¬ 
ing upon smaller fishes. They are often known by the name of gar-pike, although, 
as mentioned on p. 400, that title is best restricted to a totally different group. 
The extinct Jurassic spear-beaks ( Aspidorhynchus ) constitute a 
second family ( Aspidorhynchidce ), distinguished by the normal 
structure of the vertebrae, the homocercal tail, and the production of the upper 
jaw; the general form of the body and the arrangement of the fins being very 
similar to that obtaining in the bony-pike. 
Spear-Beaks. 
