Osteology of Certain Scombroid Fishes (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Osteology of Certain Scombroid FishesDoctor Boulenger, in his arrangement of fishes in the Cambridge Natural History, has eliminated the family Leiognathidæ from among the Scombroid fishes, where it hiterto has been considered, and has included it in the family Gerridæ, a family of more or less evident Percoid affinities.That Doctor Boulenger had some reason for this decision any one will admit who makes a comparison of the mouth parts of the members of these two families. Comparing then the genus Gerres with the genus Leiognathus, which are typical representatives of their respective families, we find these parts almost identical. Both have a long mandible, with a concave lower outline, and a small mouth. The ascending limb of preliminary is exceeding long, extending over the top of the head between the eyes and allowing the premaxillaries to be drawn outward or forward to an enormous degree. The posterior tip of the maxillaries are drawn forward the maxillaries are inclined somewhat forward also.But asides from the mouth parts these genera have little in common. Gerres has large scales over the head and body. Leiognathus has very fine scales on the body, and the head and breast are naked and covered with silvery skin suggestive of that of the Scombroid fishes. Gerres has a very short anal base; Leiognathis a very long one,a nd the soft rays of both the dorsal and anal fins are arranged each in a step or notch, as in so many of the Scombroid fishes, indicating a tendency towards a breaking of the fins into finlets.The following investigation of the ostelogy of Leiognathus was undertaken (1) to learn its skeletal characters; (2) to compare them with those of Gerres; and (3) to ascertain what, if any, its Scombroid affinities might be.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.