91. SCLENIDJ3 MENTICIRRUS. 577 



small, liorizoiital, both jaws with bands of villiform teeth, the outer 

 teeth in the upper jaw more or less enlarged; chin with a single stout- 

 ish barbel; preopercle with its inembranaceous edge serrulate; gill- 

 rakers short, tubercular; dorsal spines high, slender; second dorsal 

 long and low; caudal fin with the lower angle rounded, the upper 

 sharp; anal fin with a single weak spine; no air-bladder. Lower pha- 

 ryngeals separate, small, with sharp teeth. Species numerous in Amer- 

 ican waters. (Latin, mentum, chin; cirrus, barbel.) 

 a. Outer row of teeth in upper jaw not greatly enlarged. 



907. OT. nehulosus (Mitchill) Gill. Wkiling ; King-fish; Barb. 



Bright grayish silvery, with irregular dark bars, those in front run- 

 ning obliquely backward and downward, those behind obliquely forward 

 and downward ; fins all dusky. Body elongate, terete, but little com- 

 pressed; snout very blunt; profile evenly curved; eyes very small, 

 about 2 in snout; outer teeth not much enlarged ; pectoral fins short 

 and broad, scarcely reaching tips of ventrals, 1 in head ; ventrals If in 

 head; dorsal fins scarcely connected; spinous dorsal high, its height 

 three-fourths length of head ; anal spine very weak, less than half the 

 height of fin. Head 3f in length ; depth 4|. D. X-T, 26 ; A. I, 8 ; Lai. 

 1. about 68. Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras ; common northward ; an im- 

 portant food-fish. 



(Scicena nebulosa Mitch. Trans. Lit. and Philos. Soc. N. Y. i, 403, 1815: Umbrina neb- 

 ulosa Giinther, ii, 275.) 



908. M. Iit:ora9is (Holbrook) Gill. Surf Whiting. 



This species is said to be distinguished from M. alburnus by the plain 

 silvery color and the absence or reduction of the outer series of larger 

 teeth. Form entirely similar to that of M. alburnus. D. X-I, 27 ; A. I, 9. 

 Coast of South Carolina. (Holbrook.) 



( Umbrina littomlis Holbrook, Ich. S. Car. 1H60, 144 : Umbrina littoralis Gunther, ii, 276.) 

 aa. Outer row of teeth in upper jaw much enlarged. 



909. UI. alburnus (Linn.) Gill. Whiting. 



Silvery, faintly clouded along the back and sides, these marks form- 

 ing dusky bars, running obliquely forward and downward to below 

 the lateral line, sometimes obsolete. Body elongate, rather slenderer 

 than in nebulosiis; back slightly arched ; belly nearly straight. Snout 

 broad, depressed, and bluntish, protruding beyond the mouth. Outer 

 teeth of upper jaw very strong. Maxillary reaching to below middle of 

 the small eye. Third dorsal spine highest, less than half the length of 

 the soft dorsal, and two-thirds the length of head ; pectorals broad, 

 Bull. Nat. Mus. No. 16 37 



