54 Isospondyli 



gizzard-shad, is found in brackish river-mouths and ponds from 

 Long Island to Texas, and throughout the Mississippi Valley 

 in all the large rivers. Through the canals it has entered Lake 

 Michigan. The Konoshiro, Clupanodon thrissa, is equally com- 

 mon in China and Japan. 



The Engraulididae. The anchovies (Engraulidida) are dwarf 

 herrings with the snout projecting beyond the very wide mouth. 

 They are small in size and weak in muscle, found in all warm 

 seas, and making a large part of the food of the larger fish. 

 The genus Engraulis includes the anchovy of Europe, Engraulis 

 encrasicholus, with similar species in California, Chile, Japan, 

 and Australia. In this genus the vertebrae are numerous, the 

 bones feeble, and the flesh tender and oily. The species of 

 Engraulis are preserved in oil, often with spices, or are made 

 into fish-paste, which is valued as a relish. The genus Anchovia 

 replaces Engraulis in the tropics. The vertebras are fewer, the 



Fio. 43. A Silver Anchovy, Anchovia perthecata (Goode & Bean). Tampa. 



bones firm and stiff, and the flesh generally dry. Except as 

 food for larger fish, these have little value, although existing 

 in immense schools. Most of the species have a bright silvery 

 band along the side. The most familiar of the very numerous 

 species is the silver anchovy, Anchovia browni, which abounds 

 in sandy bays from Cape Cod to Brazil. Several other genera 

 occur farther southward, as well as in Asia, but Engraulis only 

 is found in Europe. Fossil anchovies called Engraulis are 

 recorded from the Tertiary of Europe. 



Gonorhynchidae. To the Isospondyli belongs the small primi- 

 tive family of Gonorhynchid<z, elongate fishes with small mouth, 

 feeble teeth, no air-bladder, small scales of peculiar structure 

 covering the head, weak dentition, the dorsal fin small, and 



