Series Plectognathi 



425 



length, and weighed 1200 pounds. Another, almost as large, 

 was taken at San Diego, in April, 1904. No difference has been 

 noticed among specimens from California, Cape Cod, Japan, 

 and the Mediterranean. The young, however, differ con- 

 siderably from the adult, as might be expected in a fish of such 

 great size and extraordinary form. (See Figs. 

 109 and no, Vol. I.) 



Fragments named Chelonopsis, and doubtfully 

 referred to Mola, are found in the Pliocene of 

 Belgium. Certain jaws of cretaceous age, attrib- 

 uted to Mola, probably belong, according to 

 Woodward, to a turtle 



FIG. 364. The King of the Mackerel, Ranzania makua Jenkins, 

 from Honolulu. (After Jenkins.) 



In the genus Ranzania, the body is more 

 elongate, twice as long as deep, but as in Mola, 

 the body appears as if bitten off and then pro- 

 vided with a m fringe of tail. The species are 

 rarely taken. Ranzania truncata is found in the Mediterranean 

 and once at Madeira. Ranzania makua, known as the king of 

 the mackerels about Hawaii, is beautifully colored brown and 

 silvery. This species has been taken once in Japan. 



In Hawaii it is believed that all the Scombroid fishes are sub- 

 ject to the rule of the makua and that they will disappear if 

 this fish be killed. By a similar superstition, Regalecus glesne 

 is "king of the herrings" in Norway and about Cape Flattery, 

 Trachypterus rex salmonorum is "king of the salmon." 



