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Show 634 MR. A. SMITH WOODWARD ON SOME [Nov. 18, ensis \ as also the typical species B. sphyrcenoides ~, B. muensteri3, B. kochi 4, and B. tenuirostris5, from the Bavarian and French Lithographic Stone, are distinguished, among other characters, by the much more slender proportions of the trunk. The determination of the Brazilian fossils as a hitherto undefined species is thus justified, and we propose to adopt the specific name originally suggested by Agassiz, terming the fish Belonostomus comptoni. Formation and Locality.-The species occurs in a bed of nodules met with on the slopes of the Serra de Araripe, in the Province of Ceara, North Brazil. As remarked on a former occasion8, the formation seems to be of late Cretaceous date. Genus APATEOPHOLIS, novum. Body much laterally compressed. Head relatively large ; mandible equalling the snout in length; dentition consisting of conical teeth, mostly small, sometimes obtuse, but a single series of large, well-spaced laniaries occupying the anterior half of the mandible. Preoperculum deep and triangular, with a long, robust, posteriorly-directed spine at its postero-inferior angle. Vertebrae well ossified, and the ribs robust. Dorsal fin at least as long as deep, in advance of the anal fin, which is remote, elongated, and relatively low ; caudal fin deeply cleft. Scales very thin and feebly ornamented ; a single series of deep scales occupying the greater part of the flank. The type and only known species of this new genus has not hitherto been satisfactorily described. The original specimens, however, are preserved in the British Museum, and an opportunity is thus afforded for contributing some additional notes. APATEOPHOLIS LANIATUS. (Plate LV. fig. 11.) 1887. Rhinellus laniatus, J. W ^ Davis, Trans. Roy. Dublin Soc. [2] vol. iii. p. 612, pi. xxxvii. figs. 1, 7. 1888. Belonostomus laniatus, Smith Woodward, Rep. Brit. Assoc. p. 678. The largest known specimen of this species would probably measure not less than 0*3 in length when complete. The head is remarkably large, this with the opercular apparatus being not less than two-thirds as long as the trunk. The maximum depth of the trunk immediately behind the head is contained about eight times in the total length ; and the caudal region tapers rapidly to its hinder extremity. Head and Opercular Apparatus.-The head (Plate LV. fig. 11) is 1 F. Bassani, Denkschr. k. Akad. Wiss., math.-naturw. Cl. vol. xiv. (1882), p. 198, pi. i. fig. 10. 2 L. Agassiz, Poiss. Foss. vol. ii. pt. ii. (1843), p. 140, pi. xlvii. fig. 5; A. Wagner, Abh. k. bay. Akad., math.-phys. Cl. vol. ix. p. 690. 3 Agassiz, loc. cit. p. 141, pi. xlvii. a, fig. 2; Wagner, loc. cit. p. 689. 4 Agassiz, loc. cit. p. 143; Wagner, loc. cit. p. 689. 5 .Agassiz, loc. cit. p. 143 ; Wagner, loc. cit. p. 691. c P. Z. S. 1887, p. 541. |
