The natural history of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals . cinceare united ; they are herrings in their shape and generalaspect, but pike in the position of their dorsals, andalmost in the armature of their mouth. Chirocentrusis represented by some few fishes found in the EastIndies : one of these is particularly described and figuredby Russell, under the name of Wallah {ChirocentrusRussellii Sw.). According to this author, it has a longknife-like body, which is entirely destitute of scales ;the mouth is large, very oblique, and with the lowerjaw longest; in the upper jaw
The natural history of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals . cinceare united ; they are herrings in their shape and generalaspect, but pike in the position of their dorsals, andalmost in the armature of their mouth. Chirocentrusis represented by some few fishes found in the EastIndies : one of these is particularly described and figuredby Russell, under the name of Wallah {ChirocentrusRussellii Sw.). According to this author, it has a longknife-like body, which is entirely destitute of scales ;the mouth is large, very oblique, and with the lowerjaw longest; in the upper jaw are four long, projecting,lanceolate teeth, with many small marginal ones behind;in the under jaw they are long, distant, and reflected; thetongue is small, ovate, and smooth*; the palate is alsosmooth : in others the tongue, according to Cuvier, is bristled with pectiniform teeth. The body of boththese is much lengthened; the belly sharp, but not ser-rated; the dorsal close to the caudal; and the ventralsextremely small. (245.) The genusHyodon(H. clodalisLe Sueur, fig. 6l.). approximates to the last by having the dorsal situatedtowards the caudal; but the form is more like that of the * Cuvier cites this very description of Russells Wallah for the singlespecies that is known of this type; the teeth of which he describes asfollows: The intermaxillaries and maxiUaries are both furnished, as wellas the lower jaw, with a range of strong conical teeth ; two of which, inthe middle of the upper range, and all below, are of extraordinary length :the tongue and branchial arches are bristled with pectiniform teeth. Itis clearly impossible that this can be the species described by Russell, whichhas the tongue smooth. It is more than probable, also, that the othersynonyms of Cuvier refer to different species, and that several, in short,exist in the Indian seas. It is such variations as these, in the teeth of fishes,which show how often they are merely specific —not generic—characters.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubj, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectreptiles
