The osteology and relationships of the phallostethid fishes

Abstract Two genera of the Phallostethid fishes were anatomized using both the clearing and the dissection methods. While resembling Poecillids and agreeing with them in numerous anatomical features, these fish are true Acanthopterygians and apparently are correctly placed by Myers in the suborder Phallostethoidea erected for them in the order Percesoces. The two divergent types of priapia found in the group are readily derivable one from the other, corresponding bone for bone. The priapial bones can be homologized with the missing pelvic fins and girdle plus, perhaps, the post cleithrum and some of the pectoral pterygials. A comparison is made between the Phallostethid priapial skeleton and the highly modified girdle complex of the Polynemids.