Fishes . e diamond-shaped enameled scales disappear, givingplace to cycloid scales, which gradually become thin and mem-branous in structure. A median gular plate is developed be-tween the branchiostegals. The tail is moderately heterocercal,. and the head covered with a bony coat of mail. The family of Amiida: contains a single recent species,Amia calva, the only living member of the order bowfin, or grindle, is a remarkable fish abounding in thelakes and swamps of the Mississippi Valley, the Great Lakeregion, and southward to Virginia, where it is known by theimposing but un
Fishes . e diamond-shaped enameled scales disappear, givingplace to cycloid scales, which gradually become thin and mem-branous in structure. A median gular plate is developed be-tween the branchiostegals. The tail is moderately heterocercal,. and the head covered with a bony coat of mail. The family of Amiida: contains a single recent species,Amia calva, the only living member of the order bowfin, or grindle, is a remarkable fish abounding in thelakes and swamps of the Mississippi Valley, the Great Lakeregion, and southward to Virginia, where it is known by theimposing but unexplained title of John A. Grindle. In theGreat Lakes it is usually called dogfish, because even thedogs will not eat it, and lawyer, because, according to , it will bite at anything and is good for nothingwhen caught. The bowfin reaches a length of two and one half feet, themale being smaller than the female and marked by an ocellatedblack spot on the tail. Both sexes are dark mottled green in. Fi(i. 198.—Bowfin (female), Amia calva Liniuvus. Lake Michigan. color. The fiesh of the species is very watery, pasty, muchof the substance evaporating when exposed to the air. It isill-flavored, and is not often used as food. The species isvery voracious and extremely tenacious of life. Its well-devel-oped lung enables it to breathe even when out of the water, andit will live in the air longer than any other fish of Americanwaters, longer even than the homed pout (Ainciiiriis) or themud-minnow {Umbra). As a game fish the grindle is one ofthe very best, if the angler does not care for the flesh of wliat hecatches, it being one of the hardest fighters that ever took the hook. The Ganoids 263 The Amiida retain many of the Ganoid characters, thoughapproaching more nearly than any other of the Ganoids to themodem herring tribe. For this reason the name Halecomorphi(shad-formed) was given to this order by Professor Cope. Thegular plate found in Amia and other Ganoids reappears i
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