42. SCOPELID^E - SYNODUS. 279 



dorsal, their distance from front of orbit twice that from base of caudal; 

 distance of front of dorsal to base of caudal half its distance from tip 

 of snout; caudal widely forked. Head 4; depth 13. D. 8; A. 31; P. 

 11; V. 9. Lat. 1. GO. Puget Sound, scarcely differing from the pre- 

 ceding, the teeth a little weaker. 



(Paralepis coruscans Jor. & Gill). Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1880, 411.) 



FAMILY XLIL SCOPELID^E. 



(The Scopdicls.) 



Body oblong or elongate, compressed or not, naked or covered with 

 scales, which are usually cycloid. Mouth very wide, the entire margin 

 of the upper jaw formed by the long and slender premaxillaries, closely 

 adherent to which are the slender inaxillaries, the latter sometimes rudi- 

 nieutal or obsolete. Teeth various, mostly cardiform. on both jaws, 

 tongue, and palatines; canines often present; large teeth usually de- 

 pressible. No barbels. Opercular bones usually thin, often incomplete. 

 Gill-membranes separate, free from the isthmus. Branchiostegals usu- 

 ally numerous. Pseudobranchioe present. Gill-rakers various. Lateral 

 line usually present. Cheeks and opercles commonly scaly. Adipose 

 fm present in most of the genera. Dorsal fin short, median or rather 

 anterior, of soft rays only. Pectorals and veutrals present. Anal fin 

 moderate or long. Caudal forked. Skeleton weakly ossified. Air- 

 bladder small or wanting. Intestinal canal short. Sides sometimes 

 with phosphorescent spots. Eggs inclosed in the sacs of the ovary and 

 extruded through an oviduct. Genera 10, species about 50, mostly in- 

 habiting deep water in warm regions. 



(Sco2)did<v group Saurina Giintker, v, 31)3-417.) 



*Body without phosphorescent spots. (Synodonlince.) 

 a. Teeth not barbed ; maxillary not dilated behind ; teeth on the palate in a single 



band ou each side ............................................... SYNODUS, 130. 



**Body with phosphorescent spots. (ScopeUiia 1 .) 



b. Body compressed, covered with large, smooth scales ......... MYCTOPHUM, 131. 



13. SYrVOSJUS Bloch & Schneider. 

 Lizard-fishes. 



(Saurits Cuvier, 1817.) 

 (Grooovius; Bloch & Schneid. Ichth. 1801, S9G: type Esox sy nodus L.) 



Body oblong or elongate, nearly terete. Head depressed, the snout 

 triangular, rather pointed. Interorbital region transversely concave. 



