CYPRINODONTS. In spite of their name, the small fishes called Cyprinodonts are in no way related to the Cyprinids, or carp family, but are near allies of the pike, characterized by a flat head with protractile mouth beset with cardiform, villiform, or compressed, bi- or tri-cuspid teeth, generally large scales, and the absence of a well-developed lateral line. About two hundred species are known, mostly inhabitants of the fresh and brackish waters of America; only about thirty are known from the old world (south Europe, south Asia, China and Japan, and Africa). Several forms occur in the Oligocene and Miocene beds of Europe. Many species are ovo-viviparous, and from their small size and lively behaviour they are much appreciated as aquarium fishes.
In many species the sexes are dissimilar, the female being larger and less brilliantly coloured, with smaller fins; the anal fin of the male may be modified into an intromittent organ by means of which internal fertilization takes place, the ova developing in a sort of uterus. In the remarkable genus Anableps, from Central and South America, the strongly projecting eyes are divided by a horizontal band of the conjunctiva into an upper part adapted for vision in the air, and a lower for vision in the water, and the pupil is also divided into two parts by a constriction.
The latest monograph of these fishes is by S. Garman in Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool. xix. (1895).
The Amblyopsidae, which include the remarkable blind cave fishes of North America (Mammoth cave and others), are nearly related to the Cyprinodontidae, and like many of them ovo-viviparous. Chologaster, from the lowland streams and swamps of the south Atlantic states, has the eyes well developed and the body is coloured. Amblyopsis and Typhlichthys, which are evidently derived from Chologaster, or from forms closely related to it, but living in complete darkness, have the eyes rudimentary and more or less concealed under the skin, and the body is colourless.
See F. W. Putnam, Amer. Nat. (1872), p. 6, and P. Boston Soc. xvii. (1875), p. 222; and C. H. Eigenmann, Archiv. für Entwickelungsmechanik der Organismen, viii. (1899), p. 545.
(G. A. B.)
CYPRUS, one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean, nominally in the dominion of Turkey, but under British administration, situated in the easternmost basin of that sea, at roughly equal distance from the coasts of Asia Minor to the north and of Syria to the east. The headland of Cape Kormakiti in Cyprus is distant 44 m. from Cape Anamur in Asia Minor, and its north-east point, Cape St Andrea, is 69 m. from Latakieh in Syria. It lies between 34° 33′ and 35° 41′ N., and between 32° 20′ and 34° 35′ E., so that it is situated in almost exactly the same latitude as Crete. Its greatest length is about 141 m., from Cape Drepano in the west to Cape St Andrea in the north-east, and its greatest breadth, from Cape Gata in the south to Cape Kormakiti in the north, reaches 60 m.; while it retains an average width of from 35 to 50 m. through the greater part of its extent, but narrows suddenly to less than 10 m. about 34° E., and from thence sends out a long narrow tongue of land towards the E.N.E. for a distance of 46 m., terminating in Cape St Andrea. The coast-line measures 486 m. Cyprus is the largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily and Sardinia. In 1885 a trigonometrical survey and a map on the scale of 1 in. to 1 m. were made by Captain (afterwards Lord) Kitchener, R.E., who worked out the area of the island at 3584 sq. m., or a little more than the area of Norfolk and Suffolk.
Mountains.—Great part of the island is occupied by two mountain ranges, both of which have a general direction from west to east. Of these the most extensive, as well as the most lofty, is that which fills up almost the whole southern portion of the island, and is generally designated by modern geographers as Mount Olympus, though that name appears to have been applied by the ancients only to one particular peak. The highest summit is known at the present day as Mount Troödos, and attains an elevation of 6406 ft. It sends down subordinate ranges or spurs, of considerable altitude, on all sides, one of which extends to Cape Arnauti (the ancient Acamas), which forms the north-west extremity of the island, while others descend on both sides quite to the northern and southern coasts. On the south-eastern slope are governmental and military summer quarters. The main range is continued eastward by the lofty summits known as Mount Adelphi (5305 ft.), Papoutsa (5124) and Machaira or Chionia (4674), until it ends in the somewhat isolated peak called Santa Croce (Stavrovouni or Oros Stavro), the Hill of the Holy Cross (2260 ft.). This mountain, designated by Strabo Mount Olympus, is a conspicuous object from Larnaca, from which it is only 12 m. distant, and is well known from being frequented as a place of pilgrimage. The northern range of mountains begins at Cape Kormakiti (the ancient Crommyon) and is continued from thence in an unbroken ridge to the eastern extremity of the island, Cape St Andrea, a distance of more than 100 m. It is not known by any collective name; its western part is called the Kyrenia mountains, while the remainder has the name of Carpas. It is inferior in elevation to the southern range, its highest summit (Buffavento) attaining only 3135 ft., while in the eastern portion the elevation rarely exceeds 2000 ft. But it is remarkable for its continuous and unbroken character—consisting throughout of a narrow but rugged and rocky ridge, descending abruptly to the south into the great plain of Lefkosia, and to the north to a narrow plain bordering the coast.
