262 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY - IV. 



Maxillary broad, extending beyond the eye. Villiform tooth on jaws, 

 vomcr, palatine's, tongue, sphenoid. and pterygoid bones. Scales large, 

 linn. Lateral line nearly straight, its tubes radiating widely in oaeh of 

 iis scales. Dorsal fiu short aud high, over or behind vcntrals; last ray 

 of dorsal elongate, filamentous, as ill Doroxmnn and Op/xtltonaim. Anal 

 lin long, falcate, its last ray produced, its base much longer than that. 

 of the dorsal. Caudal lin widely forked. Pectorals and vontrals rather 

 long, (lill-rakers long. Aiial liu with a sheath of scales; dorsal lin 

 naked; caudal lin largely scaly; nape with a collar of large scales. 

 Pseudobranchiae none. Species of very large size, largest of the Clupcoid 

 fishes, found in all warm seas. (//.^;.o^, large-eyed.) 



* Origin of dorsal behind the v< ntrals. 



436. M. tlirissoidcs (Bloch & Schneider) Giiuther. Tarpum ; Jew-fish. 



Uniform brilliant silvery, back darker. Body elongate, compressed, 

 little elevated. Head -i in length; depth 3i. D. 12; A. 20; Lat. 1. 42; 

 B. 23. Dorsal filament longer than head. Atlantic Ocean, entering 

 fresh water; common on our southern coasts, and noted for the great 

 size of its scales, which are used in ornamental work. 



(Clupea tltrissoides Bloch & Schneider, 1801, 4:. ; 4: Cum her, vii, 



FAMILY XXXVII CLUPEID/E. 



(The 



Body oblong or elongate, more or less compressed, covered with cycloid 

 or pectinated scales. Head naked, usually compressed. Mouth rather 

 large, terminal, the jaws about equal. Maxillaries forming the lateral 

 margins of the upper jaw, each composed of about three pieces. Pre- 

 maxillaries not protractile,. Teeth mostly feeble or wanting, variously 

 arranged. (lill-rakers long and slender. Gill-membranes not con- 

 nected. free from the isthmus. No gnlar plate, dills 1, a slit behind the 

 fourth. r.ranchiostegals usually rather few ((5-15). Posterior lower 

 part of opcrcular region usually with an angular eiiiargiuation, the tips 

 of the larger branchiostegals being abruptly truncate. Pseudobranchiffi 

 present. No lateral line (at least in our species). Dorsal tin median or 

 somewhat posterior. No adipose lin. Ventrals moderate or small (want - 

 ing in I'rixUfitiNln'). Anal usualh i-ather long. .( 'audal tin forked. IJelly 

 sometimes rounded, sometimes compressed and armed with bony sei'- 

 raturcs. (lenera l."c >pe cii -> l.'ld; inhabit iug all seas, and usually swim- 

 ming in immense- schools. .Many species ascend fresh waters, and some 



