Fig. 142.—The left half of the pelvic girdle and the right pelvic fin of Chiloscyllum. meta, Metapterygium; pelv, pelvic girdle. (From Parker and Haswell.)
Fig. 143.—Left half of the pectoral girdle of a Trout (Salmo fario), seen from the inner surface. CL, Clavicle (cleithrum); COR, coracoid; D.F.R, dermal fin-rays; MS.COR, meso-coracoid; P.CL, P.CL′, post-clavicles; PTG.1, proximal; ptg.2, distal pterygiophores; P.TM, post-temporal; S.CL, supra-clavicle; SCP, scapula. (From Parker and Haswell.)
Sometimes there is a rudiment of a dorsally-directed "iliac" process at each extremity of the girdle, but in no Fish do these processes ever acquire a dorsal connexion with the vertebral column. In the Holocephali the iliac processes are better developed than in any other Fishes, but ventrally the lateral halves of the girdle are united by ligament alone. In the Teleostomi important differences are observable in both girdles. The primary cartilaginous pectoral girdle now consists of distinct lateral halves which have no ventral connexion with each other. In addition, there is developed on the outer surface of each half a series of membrane bones, which form a secondary girdle (Fig. 143). From above downward the series includes a supraclavicle and a cleithrum (clavicle of Teleosts) which are always present, and to these may be added in the Crossopterygii and Chondrostei an infraclavicle or clavicle proper, while one or two "post-clavicles" may be present in relation with the hinder margin of the cleithrum. The infraclavicles, or in their absence the cleithra (e.g. Holostei and most Teleostei), usually meet in a median ventral symphysis, so that the secondary girdle tends to acquire the characteristic hoop-like arrangement of its parts which has been lost in the primary girdle. With the development of a bony secondary girdle, the primary girdle (scapula and coracoid) becomes much reduced, and, as a rule, does little more than connect the fins with the cleithra. The secondary girdle acquires a dorsal connexion with the skull on each side by means of the post-temporal bone, which is attached below to the supra-clavicle and above to the periotic capsule. In the Chondrostei and the Dipnoi the primary girdle retains its primitive cartilaginous condition, but in the Crossopterygii, Holostei, and in all Teleosts it is ossified as distinct scapulae and coracoids. To these may be added in some Teleosts a mesocoracoid formed by a separate ossification of the coracoid cartilage (Fig. 143).[[216]]
Fig. 144.—Ventral view of the pelvic girdle of Protopterus. a, Prepubic process; b, lateral process for the fin; c, epipubic process; Gr, ridge for the origin of the fin muscles; HE, skeleton of the fin; M, myotomes; M′, myocommata. (From Wiedersheim.)
With the possible exception of small paired or median cartilages inserted between the inner extremities of the basipterygia in Polypterus and a few other Teleostomi, the pelvic girdle is absent in all the existing members of this group, having either become completely suppressed, or remaining unseparated from the basipterygia of the pelvic fins.[[217]] In the Dipnoi (Fig. 144) there is a true pelvic girdle which has some points of resemblance to that of certain of the caudate Amphibia. It is represented by a median, lozenge-shape, cartilaginous plate, produced in front into a long tapering epipubic process, and on each side of this into a forwardly inclined prepubic process. The hinder part of the plate bears two short processes for the basal cartilages of the pelvic fins. There is no trace, however, of iliac processes.
The Pectoral Fins.—The skeleton of the pectoral fins exhibits remarkable structural variations in different Elasmobranchs. In the existing members of the group two large basal cartilages, the propterygium and the mesopterygium, are formed by the concentration and fusion of the proximal portions of certain of the preaxial radialia, and they, with the metapterygium, articulate with the pectoral girdle; hence the fin is tribasal as well as uniserial (Figs. 141 and 146, A, B). In striking contrast to all other Elasmobranchs the pectoral fin of Cladoselache (Fig. 145, A) is far more primitive than in any other Fish. Each fin is supported by a distal series of slender, more or less parallel, unjointed, cartilaginous radialia, and basally by a similar series of shorter, stouter, and less numerous cartilages, which apparently were imbedded in the body-wall, the entire fin skeleton presenting a striking resemblance to an isolated median fin in which the supporting radialia have concentrated by growth pressure, and their proximal portions have been reduced in number by partial fusion.[[218]] Pleuracanthus, on the other hand, had a biserial fin, the preaxial and postaxial radialia supporting fan-like clusters of horny fibres at their distal ends (Fig. 250).
