770 FISHES—LEPIDOSTEID &. 
grow larger backward ; top and sides of head bony and rugose ; opercula well-developed ; 
gill openings rather large; branchiostegals three; fins without spines, but all preceded 
by fulcra; dorsal short and rather high, rather behind the anal fin and similar to it; 
ventral fins jarge, abdominal; pectorals inserted very low; air bladder large, cellular, 
having somewhat the fnnctions of a lung, communicating with the pharynx by a sort of 
glottis; stomach not cecal, but with numerous pyloric appendages; intestine with a 
rudimentary spiral valve. 
Fishes of large size, inhabiting the fresh waters of North America, from the Great 
Lakes to Central America and Cuba, the last relics of the Ancient Gancid Fauna, ‘ left 
to show us what the ancient Fishes were like, as Saturn’s rings to show us how the 
world was made.” There are but two genera now extant, and the number of species 
is small, perhaps not exceeding three. Numerous fossil genera and species are known. 
ANALYSIS OF THE GENERA OF LEPIDOSTEIDZ. 
*Large teeth of the jaws in a single series. . : : : LEPIDOSTEUS. 6. 
**Large teeth of the jaws in twoseries; snout broad, depressed, about as long as the 
rest of the head. : ° . : : . 5 5 5 LITHOLEPIS. 7. 
Genus 6. LEPIDOSTEUS. Lacepede. 
Lepisosteus, LACHPED (1603), Hist. Nat. des Poiss, v, 331. 
Lepidosteus, AGassiZ, Poissons Fossiles, i, 2. 
Cylindrosteus, RAFINESQUE (1820), Ich. Ohiensis, 72. 
Type, Lepisosteus gavialis, Lac. ; Hsox osseus, L. 
Etymology, lepis, scales; osteon, bone. 
Sub-genus Lepidosteus. Snout very slender, much longer than the rest of the head. 
LEPIDOSTEUS ossEUS (Linneeus) Agassiz. 
Long-nosed Gar Pike; Bill Fish. 
Esox osseus, LINNZUS, Syst. Nat., i, 516 —BLOCH and SCHNEIDER, 392.—MITCHILL, Trans. 
Lit. and Phil. Soc., i, 44; Am. Mouthly Mag., ii, 321—SHaw, Gen. Zool., v, 115. | 
Lepidosteus osseus, AGASSIZ, Poissons Fossiles, ii, 2.— STORER, Synopsis, 465.—CoPE, Proc. 
Phil. Acad. Sci., 1864, 87.—PurnaM, Bull. M. C. Z., 1863, 2.—GUNTHER, Cat. Fishes, 
viii, 330.—DuMERIL, Hist. Nat. des Poissons, 1870.—JoRDAN, Ind. Geol. Surv., 1874, 
226; Bull. Buff. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1676, 96; Man. Vert., 1876, 308, and of many 
writers. 
? Esow viridis, GMELIN, L I., 1789, (after Catesby ). 
Lepisosteus gavialis, LACEPEDE, v, 333, 1803.—GUICHENOT, Mag. Zool., 1839, Poissons, 5. 
Sarchirus vittatus, RAFINESQUE, Ich. Ob., 1820, 79. 
Lepisosteus oxyurus, RAFINESQUE, Ich Oh., 73.—KirTLAND, Rept. Zool. Ohio., 170, 186; 
Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist., iv, 16—THOMPSON, Hist. Vt., 145, 1342. 
Lepidosteus oxyurus, AGassiz, Amer. Journ, Sci. and Arts., 1854, 360.—PutNaM, Bull. M. 
C. Z., 1863, 2—CoPs, Proce. Phil. Acad. Sci., 1865, 87. 
Lepisosteus longirostris, RAFINESQUE, Ich. Oh., 1820, 70 (based on the species described 
by Mitchell ‘‘ under the obsolete name of sox osseus) 
Lepidosteus longirostris, RICHARDSON, F’, B. A., iii, 237.—DEKay, Fishes N. Y., 274. 
