PISCES.

TELEOSTEI.

TELEOCEPHALI.

CYPRINODONTIDÆ.

"Head and body covered with scales; barbels, none. Margin of the upper jaw formed by the premaxillaries only. Teeth in both jaws; upper and lower pharyngeals, with cardiform teeth. Dorsal fin situated on the hinder half of the body." (Günther.)

TRICOPHANES, Cope.

U. S. Geolog. Surveyor the Terrs., 1872, p. 641.

Having secured a very perfect specimen of this genus, we are enabled to complete the definition of its generic characters. We give, then, Professor Cope's definition, with some emendations and additions: Dorsal and anal fins short; ventral fin sometimes beneath and sometimes in advance of the dorsal. The premaxillary forms all of the superior arcade of the mouth, which has a wide gape, opening back behind the orbit. This bone has a row of long, slender, recurved, and subequal teeth implanted in it. The dentary is stout, and has a few small teeth. The branchiostegal rays are six in number, and are rather wide. The preoperculum IS serrate. The operculum is ridged on top. The anterior vertebræ are unmodified, and the centra are not elongate. A strong acute spine supports the dorsal, and a similar one the anal fin. There is a long post-clavicle, which may or may not extend to the base of the ventral parallel with the femur. The femur is long and furcate; the external part straight and reaching to the clavicle; the internal curves to meet the corresponding portion of its fellow. The ventral radii are eight in number, and the caudal fin is furcate. The scales are peculiar, and characteristic of the genus. They are very thin, and have borders fringed with long, close-set, bristle-like processes. This genus includes as yet only three species: T. hians, from Osivio, Nev.; and T. foliarum and T. Copei, from Florissant, Col.

Tricophanes Copei, sp. nov.

Vertebræ D. 12, C. 18, Radii D. 14, A. 8, V. 8, C. 41, P. 5 only visible, not all preserved. The dorsal fin is long, and projects beyond the beginning of the anal fin; the mouth is terminal, and the muzzle rather sharp. All the bones of the skeleton are very slender; and this is especially true of the ribs, which are not as thick as the interneurals. The neural and hæmal spines are short and slender. The origin of the dorsal is nearer to the muzzle than to the caudal; though, as a whole, the fin is on the hinder half of the body. There are no interneural spines in front of the dorsal fin; those supporting the fin are short, slender, and without the laminar expansions found in T. foliarum. The caudal fin consists of numerous jointed rays, which are supported by the neural and hæmal spines of the last three vertebræ. The scales are small, and exhibit the peculiarities of the genus, but the rows are too imperfect to be counted.

Measurements.

M.

Total length (straight) ·0935

Length of head ·018

Length of vertebral column ·055

Length of caudal fin ·024

Length of dorsal spine ·011

Length of anal spine ·009

Depth of head posteriorly ·016

Length of mandibular ramus ·010

Length to dorsal fin (from muzzle) ·033

Length of dorsal fin ·0135

Depth of body at middle of dorsal fin ·017

Found in the insect beds at Florissant, Col.

CATOSTOMIDÆ.

Body covered with scales; head naked; margin of upper jaw formed by the premaxillaries; mouth toothless. Pharyngeal teeth in a single series, and exceedingly numerous and closely set. Dorsal fin elongate and opposite the ventrals. Anal short, or of moderate length.

AMYZON, Cope.

U. S. Geolog. Survey of the Terrs., 1872, p. 642.

Allied to Bubalichthys. Dorsal fin elongate, with a few fulcral spines in front. There are three broad branchiostegals. The vertebræ are short, and the hæmal spines of the caudal fin are distinct and rather narrow. The teeth are arranged comb-like, are truncate, and number from thirty to forty. The dentary bone is slender and toothless, and the angular is distinct.

Amyzon commune, Cope.

U. S. Geolog. Survey of Terrs., 1873, p.

Represented by several fine specimens from near Castello's Ranch, Col.

SAURODONTIDÆ.

For a very complete definition of this family, see Cope's Cretac. Vert., p. 183.

PORTHEUS, Cope.

Cretac. Vert., p. 189 et seq.

"Teeth subcylindric, without serrate or cutting edges, occupying the maxillary, premaxillary, and dentary bones; size, irregular; premaxillary, median maxillary, and dentary much reduced. No foramina on inner face of jaws. Teeth on the premaxillary reduced in number. Opercular and pre-opercular bones very thin. Cranial bones not sculptured."

Portheus thaumas (?), Cope.

Loc. cit. p. 196.

Maxillary large, teeth three; third mandibular small, without cross groove in front of it.

A single tooth from the cretaceous sandstone of Cement Gulch, Col., is provisionally referred to this species; the reference cannot be certain, as the specimens described and figured by Professor Cope have the crowns of the teeth broken. The tooth is not so long as the largest tooth of P. molossus, but is of proportionately greater diameter and not so straight. It is conical and recurved, and shows two very obscure cutting-edges, which divide the crown into two unequal faces. It has faint longitudinal striations on all sides, and the apex is sharp.

Measurements.

M.

Fore-and-aft diameter at the base 0·613

Height of crown 0·020

NEMATOGNATHI.

SILURIDÆ.

"Skin naked, or with osseous scutes, but without scales. Barbels always present; maxillary bone rudimentary, margin of the upper jaw formed by the premaxillaries only. Suboperculum absent; adipose fin present or absent." (Günther.)

RHINEASTES, Cope.

U. S. Geol. Survey of the Terrs., 1872, p. 638.

A genus allied to the recent Ichtælurus but differing in the inferior grooving of the vertebræ and in the rough exostoses of the cranial bones. It differs from Phareodon in having the usual band of bristle-like teeth on the dentary.

Rhineastes —— ?

Represented by a portion of the dentary and hyomandibular bones of a large cat-fish from Bridger Butte.

The dentary is broad and shallow, grooved below, and deeply striated on the external face. As much of it as is preserved is straight. The teeth are small, subequal throughout, and very numerous. The hyomandibular is broad and thick, and has a striated surface. The condyle is peculiar in having two separate articular faces above and below, one convex and the other flat.

GANOIDEI.

CYCLOGANOIDEI.

AMIIDÆ.

"Scales cycloid; a long, soft dorsal fin. Abdominal and caudal parts of the vertebral column subequal in extent." (Günther.)

AMIA.

Body elongate sub-cylindrical, compressed behind; snout short and rounded. Jaws with an outer series of closely-set pointed teeth, and with a band of small teeth, similar teeth on the vomer, palatine, and pterygoid bones. Long dorsal, short anal, and rounded nonfurcate caudal fin. Ventrals well developed. A single large gular plate; branchiostegal rays ten to twelve.

Amia (Protamia) uintaensis, Leidy.

Cont. to Ext. Vert. Fauna, p. 185.

A species of large mud-fishes related to the modern Amia calva. The vertebræ are all much wider than they are high. The articular cones have their bottoms considerably above the centre, and are minutely perforate for the notochord. The centrum is transversely curved from side to side, and has the convexity directed forwards; it is truncate below, making the infero-lateral angles quite prominent in the anterior dorsal region; in the posterior there are two fossæ. The diapophyses are large, but almost sessile, and take their origin above the centre, on the same line as the bottom of the articular cone. The facets for the neurapophyses are in the form of the figure 8; their internal borders are prominent. The atlas has a broad oval centrum, which is not truncate below, and has no markings of any kind on the under surface. The articular faces for the neurapophyses are prominent, and approach near together. The depression for the occipital condyle is small, circular, and situated above the centre.

From Henry's Fork.

Amia depressa (?), Marsh.

Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. 1871, p. 103

In this species the dorsal centra are wide, low, and short, and of a regular oval outline. The articular cones are shallow, and have their bottoms but slightly above the centre. The neurapophysial facets are deep, with prominent borders, and the diapophyses are sessile. The chief peculiarity is that the under surface of the centrum has no markings of any kind.

M.

Length of centrum ·010

Breadth of centrum ·040

Depth of centrum ·027

As Professor Marsh has given no measurements, the reference to A. depressa cannot be certain.

The specimen was found at Henry's Fork.

Amia scutata, Cope.

Bull, of U. S. Geol. Survey, No. 1 of Series II, p

A species of about the size of A. calva, but with a proportionately larger head. It is represented in our collection by a specimen which lacks only a portion of the caudal and pectoral fins. The premaxillary is short and stout, articulates closely with the maxillary, and bears a single row of pointed recurved teeth. These are shorter and straighter than in A. calva. The maxillary is much as in the modern species, but is rounder. The cranio-facial axis is straight and broad; the basioccipital is the largest of the bones; the basisphenoid and presphenoid are of the usual shape and size, but there is a constriction at their junction which is not marked in the modern species. The vomer is long and double, and at the extremity is armed with rows of small teeth. The two portions diverge more perceptibly than in A. calva, and are stouter, though this appearance may, to some extent, be due to flattening.

The frontal is long, broad, and thick; the upper surface is delicately sculptured in a somewhat different pattern from that seen in the modern species. The parietal is short and broad, while the epiotic is unusually narrow. The mandible is long and slender; the rami are incurved anteriorly, but apparently not to the same extent as in A. calva. The articular has the shape of a long and narrow wedge; it does not form a very close articulation with the dentary. The dentary is long and comparatively slender, has a rounded outline, and is occupied by an external row of large, and an internal band of small teeth. The mandibular teeth, like those of the upper jaw, are somewhat different from the teeth of A. calva; they are shorter, stouter, and are not so much incurved or recurved. They are very sharp, and show a constriction below the apex. The small teeth are of the usual size and shape. The jugular plate is well developed, and is long and narrow. The hyoid arch is very much the same as that shown in the recent species; the characteristic flat branchiostegals are well marked; they appear to be thirteen in number.

The scapular arch is long and stout. The clavicle is strongly bent, the supra-clavicle is short, and the post-clavicle is long. The pectoral fin is too indistinct for description.

The vertebræ are of considerable depth in the anterior dorsal region, and decrease steadily in size as they go backwards. The neural spines are long and slender, and project strongly backwards. The relation of the centra to the arches seems to be about that seen in A. calva, but the neurapophyses are more slender. The diapophyses are long and slender, in this respect differing from the Bridger species and approaching the modern one. The dorsals are thirty-five in number. The caudals number about forty-seven. They have smaller centra, but longer and stronger neurapophyses than the dorsals. The hæmal arch is long, and the hæmapophyses articulate movably with the centra. The spines supporting the caudal fin rays are very stout. The dorsal fin is long and soft, and has long interneurals supporting short rays; these are fifty-three in number. The anal fin, on the other hand, is very short, having but nine rays, which are long and jointed, and articulate with short interhæmals. The caudal fin appears to be of the usual form. The femur is of the general shape characteristic of Amia, but is not just like that of A. calva. It is shorter, broader at the proximal end, while the distal end is narrower, and has a deeper constriction just above it. The ventral fins are placed under the middle of the dorsal region, and have each ten rays. The scales are of the usual cycloidal shape, and minutely striate.

Measurements.

M.

Total length (estimated in part) ·404

Length of head ·093

Length of vertebral column ·253

Length of caudal fin (estimated) ·058

Length of mandible ·059

Length of jugular plate ·032

Length of dorsal region ·141

Length of caudal region ·112

Depth of body at origin of dorsal fin

Length of dorsal fin ·117

Length of femur ·027

From the insect beds near Florissant, Col.

PAPPICHTHYS, Cope.

U. S. Geol. Survey of the Terrs., 1872, p. 634.

Vertebræ short, dorsal with projecting diapophyses. Maxillary and dentary bones support but one series of teeth.

Pappichthys plicatus, Cope.

Loc. cit., p. 635.

From Henry's Fork.

Pappichthys lævis, Cope.

Loc. cit., p. 366.

Represented by three vertebræ from the posterior part of the dorsal region. The centra are subcircular and have deep articular cones, with their bottoms above the centre, and minutely perforate for the notochord. The centra are comparatively quite long, and have prominent projecting rims, and are truncate beneath. The facets for the neurapophyses are long, and are separated into two parts for the contiguous arches. The diapophyses are short and stout.

Measurements.

M.

Length of centrum ·015

Breadth of centrum ·0315

Depth of centrum ·027

Found at Henry's Fork.

Pappichthys symphysis, Cope.

Loc. cit., p. 636.

Found at Cottonwood Creek.

ELASMOBRANCHII.

PLAGIOSTOMATA.

CARCHARIDÆ.

"Eye with a nictitating membrane. An anal fin; two dorsals."

GALEOCERDO.

Caudal fin with a double notch; mouth crescent shaped; teeth subequal in both jaws, oblique, serrate on both margins.

Galeocerdo falcatus, Ag.

Corax falcatus, Poiss. Foss., t. iii., p. 226.

This species is represented by a single tooth from the cretaceous sandstone near the Garden of the Gods, Col. It does not agree exactly with any descriptions or plates which we have seen; but the differences are probably owing to the position or age of the specimen. The crown is low, broad, and not very acute, the edge is finely serrate, and there is no sensible difference between the serrations of the two borders. The anterior border is undulating in outline, but for the most part is convex; the posterior is short and straight, and sends out quite a long heel. One face of the crown is flat and the other is strongly convex. The root is stout and divided into two fangs, which are longer and more distinct than is common in this species. There are no denticles; cementum smooth.

Measurements.

M.

Length of crown ·017

Depth of fang ·009

Height of crown ·011

Galeocerdo hartwellii, Cope.

Cret. Vert, p.. 244.

This species belongs to the group G. Egertonii, Ag., having the two edges subequal and symmetrical. A single tooth from Cement Gulch, Col.

CESTRACIONTIDÆ.

"Two dorsal fins, an anal; nasal and buccal cavities confluent. Teeth obtuse, several series being in function." (Günther.)

Ptychodus, Ag.

Poissons Fossiles, t. iii., p. 56.

Ptychodus Whippleyi, Marcou.

Geology of North America, 1858, p. 33.

Represented by a tooth from the cretaceous of Cement Gulch, almost identical with the specimen described by Dr. Leidy from the cretaceous of Texas. (Cont. to Ext. Vert. Fauna, p. 300.)