424 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



former on a level with the eyes; caudal fin small, widely forked. Pyloric 

 appendages exceedingly numerous. Air-bladder usually wanting. Species 

 few, widely distributed, everywhere highly valued for food, (uxu^poq^ 

 Latin Scomber, the ancient name of the common mackerel.) 



a. Air-bladder present, small. 



667. S. piiCBJonatophorus DolaRoche. Chub Mackerel ; Tinker Mackerel ; Easter 

 Mackerel. 



* 



Blue, with about 20 wavy, blackish streaks, which extend to just be- 

 low the lateral line; some of these form reticulations, and inclose pale 

 spots of the color of the back ; belly and sides silvery ; a black axillary- 

 spot. Head rather pointed. Maxillary reaching front of pupil. Eye 

 4 in head, nearly equal to snout; pectoral f length of head. Head 3; 

 depth 5. D. IX I, 12 V; A. I I, 11 V. Lat. 1. 200. L. 1 foot. 

 Atlantic and Pacific, north to Maine and San Francisco; common in the 

 Mediterranean and in Southern California; irregular in its appearance 

 on our Atlantic coast. 



(De la Roche, Ann. Mus. Nat. Hist, xiii, 315; Giiuther, ii, 359: Scomber grex Mitch. 

 Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y. 1815, 422: Scomber dekayi Storer, Fish. Mass. 1867, 52: 

 Scomber diego Ayres, Proc. Cal. Acad. Nat. Sci. i, 92, 1855: Scomber colias pt. Stein- 

 dachner, nee Scomber coliaa of Gunther and C. & V., which has but 7 dorsal spines.) 



oo. Air-bladder wanting. 



608. S. scoanbrus 'L. Common Mackerel. 



Lustrous dark blue above, with about 35 wavy, blackish, transverse 

 streaks; below silvery; base of pectorals dark. Snout rather long and 

 pointed, compressed. Mouth large, maxillary extending to anterior 

 margin of orbit. Yentrals and pectorals short, the former nearly half 

 length of head. Eye less than snout, 5 in head. Head 4 in length; 

 depth 51. I). XII I, 10 V; A. 1, 11 V. L. 18 inches. North Atlantic; 

 abundant on both coasts, and occasionally straying to the Pacific. A 

 well-known food-fish. 



(Linn. Syst. Nat.: Scomber scomber Giinthcr, ii, 357: Scomber vern a I is Storer, Hist. 

 Fish. Mass. 54.) 



214. AUXIS Cuvi.T. 

 Frigate j\l<t<-kcr<'1x. 



('ii\iir, K'.-Linr Anini. l-J'.l, ii : type S/,nnlr nit In i K'isso.) 



Body oblong, plump, mostly naked posteriorly, anteriorly covered with 

 small scales, those of the peetoral region enlarged, forming a corselet. 

 Snout very short, conical, M-:ircely compressed. Mouth rather small, 



