THE PAMPANOS 



Family XXX VIII. Carangida 



BODY more or less compressed, and often elevated, sometimes 

 naked, or more usually covered with small, thin, cycloid scales; head 

 compressed, the occipital keel prominent, usually trenchant; mouth 

 of varying size, the teeth generally small; premaxillaries usually pro- 

 tractile; lateral line complete, anteriorly arched, the posterior part 

 straight, sometimes armed with bony plates; dorsal fins more or less 

 separated, the spinous part rather weak, the spines usually depres- 

 sible in a groove; anal fin long, similar to the soft dorsal, always pre- 

 ceded by 2 stiff spines, usually separate, but more or less connected 

 with the fin or with each other in the young, these sometimes dis- 

 appearing with age; often a procumbent spine before the dorsal fin; 

 ventral fins thoracic, well developed, I, 5; caudal peduncle very 

 slender, the lobes widely forked; gill-opening very wide, the mem- 

 branes usually not connected, free from the isthmus; pseudobranchiae 

 large, sometimes disappearing with age. Genera about 30, species 

 about 200, abounding in warm seas, often moving north in 

 summer, like the Scombridcv. They swim swiftly, often with the 

 dorsal fin above the surface of the water. Most of the species are of 

 wide distribution, and nearly all are valued as food. 



The 19 genera represented in our waters by many species are as 

 follows : 



a. Premaxillaries not protractile; Oligoplites, 297 



aa. Premaxillaries protractile. 



b. Anal fin much shorter than soft dorsal, its base not longer than 



the abdomen. 



c. Dorsal and anal fins without finlets. 



d. Membrane of dorsal spines disappearing with agQ\..Nancrates, 298 



ild. Membrane of dorsal spines persistent; Seriola, 299 



cc. Dorsal and anal fins each with a detached 2-rayed finlet; 



Elagatis, 301 

 bb. Anal fin about as long as soft dorsal, its base longer than 



abdomen. 



c. Maxillary with a supplemental bone; pectoral long and falcate. 

 /. Dorsal outline more strongly curved than ventral outline. 

 g. Dorsal and anal each with a single detached finlet; .Decapterns, 302 

 gg. Dorsal and anal without finlets. 

 h. Lateral line with well developed scutes for its entire length; 



Trac hunts, 302 

 hh. Lateral line with scutes on its straight portion only. 



296 



