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Show 242 PISCES. catcd teeth, that it serves as a rasp for reducing fruits into pulp, or for expressing theil· juice. 0. Vandellii, Cuv.; Jschnosoma bicirrhosum, Spix, XXV. A tolerably large species from Brazil. LEPISOSTEus, Lacep. The snout formed by the union of the intermaxillaries, maxillaries and palatines with the vomct· and ethmoid; the· lowet· jaw equal in length, and the edges of both of them, their whole interior sur. face being covered with rasp-like teeth, provided with a series of long pointed teeth. The bt·auchire are united on the throat by a common membrane which has tht·ee rays on each side. The scales are of a stony hardness, and the dorsal and anal opposite to each other and very far back. The two last rays of the tail-fin, and the first of all the others, are invested with scales which give them the appearance of being dentated. The stomach is continuous with a thin intestine which is twice flexed and provided with numerous short creca at the pylot·us; the natatory bladder is cellular as in the Amire, and occupies the whole length of' the abdomen. They inhabit the lakes and rivers of the hot climates of America,( I) attain a large size, and fot·m an agreeable food.(2) PoLYPTERus, Geoff. Margin of the upper jaw immovable, the middle formed by the intermaxillaries, and the sides by the maxillaries; a shagreened bony plate, like those on the rest of the head, covers the whole cheek, and there is but a single flat ray in the branchire. The elongated body is invested with stony scales as in Lepisosteus, and what particularly distinguishes this genus from all others is a gt·eat num· ber of separate fins extending along the back, each of which is up· held by a strong spine, furnished with some soft rays, attached to its postel'ior edge. The caudal surrounds the end of the tail, the , anal is close to it, the ventrals are very far back, and the pectorals (1) I do not believe with Bloch that the fish from the East Indies, Henard, VIH, f. 56; Valent., III, 459, is the Eso:c osaeus-it is more probably a Sl>ecies of Be· lone. . (2) The Ca'iman, Esox osseus, L., Bl., 390;-the Lepisostee spatule, Lacep., V, vt, 2, and the other species or varieties described by Rafin., Fishes of the Ohio, p. 72, et seq. N: .B.. Under the name of E sox 'lf·t n' dz' s, L'm n::eus appears to have um· te d a de - ecuphon of the Belone sent by Garden with the figure of the Ca'imau given by Catesby, II, xxx. M.ALACOPTEHYCII ABDOMIN.ALES. 243 placed on a scaly and somewhat elong~ted arm. Thet·e i'> a range of conical teeth round each jaw, and behind them, others which a1·e small and crowded, or rasp-like. The stomach is \'ery luge, the intestine thin, straight, and furnished with a spiral 'alve and a single crecum; the double natatory bladder has large lobes, that on the left is particularly so, and communicates with the <:esophagus by a wide hole. There is one species with sixteen dorsals, discovered in the Nile by M. Geoffroy, Polypterus bichir, Geoff., Ann. Mus., I, v; and another from the Senegal which has but twelve, the· P. senega/ us, Cuv. They are both eaten. ORDER III. MALACOPTERYGII SUBRACHIA'l'I. This order is characterized by ventrals inserted under the pectorals; the pelvis is also directly suspended to the bones of the shoulder. It contains almost as many families as genera. FAMILY I, GADITES, This family is almost wholly composed of the great genus GAnus, Lin.(l) Recognized by the v~ntrals, which are pointed and attached to the throat. The body is moderately elongated, slightly compressed, and covered with rather small and soft scales; the head is well proportioned, but without scales; all the fins are soft; the jaws and front of the vomer armed with pointed, unequal, moderate or small teeth, dis- (1) Gadus, the Greek name of a fish also called Onos. Artedi applied it to this genus in order to avoid those of Onos, .IJ.ssellus, and Mustela, employed by the an· cients, and which were thought, by the first modern icthyologists, though without proof, to indicate some of our Gadi, but which, being also name EOf quadrupeds, would have occasioned ambiguity. \ |