The natural history of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals . t affinity with the two last, * Shaw, probably on the authority of Hermann, states that there is nogill niembrane. — Gen. Zool. vol. iv. p. 112. s 3 262 CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES. but we cannot discover any relation it bears to theherrings,—even in a solitary character: its depressedhead, large mouthy and strong teeth, and even some-thing in the position of its fins, would lead us, in thefirst instance, to arrange it among the pikes (Esocince);its relation, however, to Erythrinus appears, upon thewhole, more close;
The natural history of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals . t affinity with the two last, * Shaw, probably on the authority of Hermann, states that there is nogill niembrane. — Gen. Zool. vol. iv. p. 112. s 3 262 CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES. but we cannot discover any relation it bears to theherrings,—even in a solitary character: its depressedhead, large mouthy and strong teeth, and even some-thing in the position of its fins, would lead us, in thefirst instance, to arrange it among the pikes (Esocince);its relation, however, to Erythrinus appears, upon thewhole, more close; and as we have placed this lattergenus as an aberrant form in the circle of the Cyprina,so do we arrange Sudis as the connecting link betweenthe salmons and the carps. Whether this is its true si-tuation in nature, it is impossible, in the present stateof things, to determine ; but it appears much more na-tural (when we consider its resemblance to Erythrinus,and of this latter to Gonorynchus) than to associate it withthe herrings. The Sudis gigas(fig. 55.) is the largest. of four or five species which seem to be distributed inthe fresh waters of America and of Africa. The typicalform to which it shows the nearest approximation isclearly the anguilliform ; and as we have no genus inthe primary divisions of the Salmon idee which representsthose fishes, we confess that this consideration has ma-terially influenced us in giving this station to scales are very large, strong, thick, and bony: thebones of the head are hard, naked, and rough : in somethe muzzle is oblong, and in others shorter; while thatof S. gigas is evidently depressed. In S. JYiloticus, ac-cording to Ehrenberg, there is a singular funnel spi-rally convoluted, which adheres to the third gill, whichCuvier, with much probability, conjectures is analogousto those which he has so ably and beautifully investigatedin the genera Anabas, Ophiocephalus, &c. We havenot yet come to our exposition of the spine-ray
Size: 3376px × 740px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubj, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectreptiles
