The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 2 / With a study of the relations of living and extinct faunas as elucidating the past changes of the Earth's surface

by Alfred Russel Wallace

Distribution.—Temperate parts of Southern Oceans, and Japan.

Family 77.—HYODONTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

"A fresh-water fish with cycloid scales and posterior dorsal fin."

Distribution.—Fresh waters of North America.

Family 78.—OSTEOGLOSSIDÆ. (3 Genera, 5 Species.)

"Fresh-water fishes, with large hard scales, and dorsal fin opposite and equal to the anal fin."

Distribution.—Tropical rivers.

The genera are:—Osteoglossum (3 sp.), Eastern South America, Sunda Islands, and Queensland; Arapaima (1 sp.), Eastern South America—the "Pirarucú" of the Amazon; Heterotis (1 sp.), Tropical Africa.

Family 79.—CLUPEIDÆ. (18 Genera, 161 Species.)

"Marine scaly fishes, without barbels, and with the abdomen often compressed and serrated."