Freshwater-fishes characteristic of and almost confined to the Indian region. The structure of the mouth and of the branchial apparatus, the separation of the humeral arch from the skull, the absence of ventral fins, the anatomy of the abdominal organs, affords ample proof that these fishes are Acanthopterygian eels. Their upper jaw terminates in a pointed moveable appendage, which is concave and transversely striated inferiorly in Rhynchobdella, and without transverse striæ in Mastacembelus: the only two genera of this family. Thirteen species are known, of which Rh. aculeata, M. pancalus and M. armatus are extremely common, the latter attaining to a length of two feet. Outlying species are M. aleppensis from Mesopotamia and Syria, and M. cryptacanthus, M. marchei, and M. niger, from West Africa.
Fig. 228.—Mastacembelus argus, from Siam.
Eleventh Division—Acanthopterygii Mugiliformes.
Two dorsal fins more or less remote from each other; the anterior either short, like the posterior, or composed of feeble spines. Ventral fins with one spine and five rays, abdominal.
First Family—Sphyrænidæ.
Body elongate, sub-cylindrical, covered with small cycloid scales; lateral line continuous. Cleft of the mouth wide, armed with strong teeth. Eye lateral, of moderate size. Vertebræ twenty-four.
This family consists of one genus only, Sphyræna, generally called “Barracudas,” large voracious fishes from the tropical and sub-tropical seas, which prefer the vicinity of the coast to the open sea. They attain to a length of eight feet, and a weight of forty pounds; individuals of this large size are dangerous to bathers. They are generally used as food, but sometimes (especially in the West Indies) their flesh assumes poisonous qualities, from having fed on smaller poisonous fishes. Seventeen species.
The Barracudas existed in the tertiary epoch, their remains being frequently found at Monte Bolca. Some other fossil genera have been associated with them, but as they are known from jaws and teeth or vertebræ only, their position in the system cannot be exactly determined; thus Sphyrænodus and Hypsodon from the chalk of Lewes, and the London clay of Sheppey. The American Portheus is allied to Hypsodon. Another remarkable genus from the chalk, Saurocephalus, has been also referred to this family.[44]