The natural history of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals . abridged from M. GeofFroys own account, are thereforeplaced before the reader. The usual length of the NiloticPolypterus is about eighteen inches, and its colour is seagreen, paler beneath, and marked with irregular blackspots: it bears some resemblance to certain genera inthe Esooc, or pike family, by the shape of its body, &c. ;but these seem to be very distant. The shape is long andanguilliform—the body being nearly cylindrical: the headis defended by large bony plates (fig. 37.); and the body. covered, or rathe
The natural history of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals . abridged from M. GeofFroys own account, are thereforeplaced before the reader. The usual length of the NiloticPolypterus is about eighteen inches, and its colour is seagreen, paler beneath, and marked with irregular blackspots: it bears some resemblance to certain genera inthe Esooc, or pike family, by the shape of its body, &c. ;but these seem to be very distant. The shape is long andanguilliform—the body being nearly cylindrical: the headis defended by large bony plates (fig. 37.); and the body. covered, or rather mailed, with large strong scales of astony hardness, and so firmly attached to the skin thatit is hardly possible to open the fish with a knife ; sothat the natives only draw off the skin whole, after thefish has been boiled. The pectoral and ventral fins,but particularly the former, are attached by a sort of POLYPXERUS NILOTICUS. 209 strong and scaly base or cubit, allowing the same sort ofmotion as in those of the Chironectidce. The pectoralfins are placed close to the head, and are large, broad attheir base, and much rounded ; but the ventrals are ex-cessively remote from them, being situated very near thecaudal, close to which latter is the anal. The caudal isrounded, and extends further upon the superior thanupon the inferior part of the tail, where it is met by along row of numerous dorsal finlets, which extend alongthe whole of the back to within a short space of thehead : the number of these finlets varies from sixteen toeighteen, each being of an oval shape
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubj, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectreptiles
