In the Toxotes and Pempherides, the jaws support only minute
villiform teeth ; but there are similar teeth on the palatines.
In the Bramce, the maxillary teeth are somewhat coarser, or ‘ en
cardes’ and some of the outer and anterior ones are developed into
small canines. The palatine teeth form a narrow band ‘ en cardes,’
on each side of the roof of the mouth.
In the genus Pimelipterus{\) there is a band of villiform teeth on
each jaw ; and external to these there is a row of moderately developed
trenchant teeth, which present the singular modification of having the
part analogous to the fang, bent at right angles to the crown. This
fang is horizontal, and is anchylosed by one side to the margin of the
jaw. In the Pimelipterus Boscii it is of equal length with the vertical
crown; in Pimel. incisor it is somewhat longer; and in the Pimel.
fuscus the root is three times the length of the crown. This portion
of the tooth is generally oval, compressed, and sharp-edged. There
are between twenty and thirty of these teeth in each jaw. They are
subject to uninterrupted shedding and replacement, and their successors
pierce the jaws in front of those which are displaced. In all the
Pimelipteri there are rough granular discs on the palatines, pterygoids
and vomer.
In the Dipterodons the external row of teeth are more developed
than in the Pimelipteri, and are straight; the crown is broad and
terminates in a trenchant chisel-shaped edge. There are six of these
incisors in the upper jaw, and ten in the lower jaw of the Cape Dipte-
rodon; the middle ones are the longest. The posterior villiform teeth
are more developed than in the Pimelipteri. The vomer and palatines
are edentulous. The inferior pharyngeals are covered with a pavement
of round obtuse teeth; those above are similar but smaller.
PLEURONECTOIDS.
46. Among the Pleuronectoids or Flat-fish, the soles (Solea) manifest
their affinity to the preceding family in their fine ciliiform teeth ;
these, in their unequal distribution, partake of the main characteristic
of the Pleuronectidee, which are the least symmetrical of vertebrate
animals, and are limited, in the intermaxillary and premandibular
(1) PI. 1, fig. 5.
bones, to that side which corresponds with the under or white surface
of the fish ; the pharyngeal bones are beset with similar teeth.
In the Plaice (Platessa), there is a regular curvilinear series of
about twenty teeth, which are miniature resemblances of the incisors
of the Sargus, in the left intermaxillary bone, and only three smaller
and ill-shaped teeth near the median extremity of the right intermaxillary.
A like disproportion in the number of the teeth prevails in the
premandibular bones ; there being about thirty incisors, similar to
those above in the left, and but two or three incisors in the right
premandibular bone. The dentigerous intermaxillaries and preman-
dibulars are stouter, more curved and longer than those of the opposite
side.
The food of these ground-fish being below them, and the side of
the head being applied to the bottom, instead of having the mouth
opening symmetrically upon the under surface of the head as in the
Rays, the premandibulars and intermaxillaries corresponding with the
under or white side of the fish are elongated and curved, and the
teeth, if not restricted to them, as in the sole, are more numerous and
more regularly disposed, than on the corresponding bones of the
opposite side.
The pharyngeal bones of the Plaice are paved with flattened molar
teeth, larger than the incisors, and generally presenting a cubical
form.
The pectinated processes from the concave side of the branchial
arches are sharp-pointed, but do not support teeth.
The Turbot (Rhombus) has numerous small unciform teeth in the
jaws, a small group of similar teeth on the palate, and others on the
branchial arches and pharyngeal bones.
In the Holibut (Hippoglossus), the giant of the flounder-tribe, the
arrangement of the teeth is less unsymmetrical than in the flounder
or sole, there being nearly as many teeth on the left intermaxillaries
and premandibulars as on the right. Both these and the pharyngeal
teeth are conical, sharp-pointed, and recurved, and the same form is
presented by the minute teeth which are placed upon the branchial
arches ; the whole dental system thus presents a predatory character.
The intermaxillary teeth are arranged in two or three irregular