NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 81 



Genus Cynoscion* Gill. 



Otolithus sp. Cuvier, Regne Animal, ed. i. vol. ii. p. 299. 

 Cestreus Gronow, Catalogue of Fish collected and described by L. T. Gronow, 

 now in the British Museum, p. 49. 1854. 



Body elongated and nearly fusiform. Caudal peduncle of moderate size. 



Head oblong-conical, with a scarcely convex snout. Eyes wholly in the ante- 

 rior half of the head. Mouth oblique ; the supramaxillars cease nearly under 

 or little before the posterior borders of the orbits. Lower jaw protuberant. 

 Preoperculum with its margin membranous and crenulated. 



Teeth distant and recurved, nearly uniserial in the lower jaw, in front pre- 

 ceded by an additional row ; nearly biserial in the upper jaw, and normally 

 with a canine tooth on each side of the symphysis ; one is generally deciduous. 



Anterior dorsal fin with generally nine or ten spines ; posterior of normal 

 size. Anal fin trapezoidal, with only one very slender spine apparent exter- 

 nally. Caudal fin subtruncated. Ventrals in the same relative position as those 

 of Scicena. ' 



Lateral line with a sigmoid flexure, tubular, in scales formed like those of 

 the rest of the body. 



The pharyngeal bones are armed with acute teeth ; those of the upper are 

 considerably curved. The setre of the first ceratobranchials are slender ; their 

 teeth are rarely in more than one or two irregular rows, and are but slightly 

 curved. The internal sides of the first and both sides of the remaining bran- 

 chial arches have a row of appressed semioval plates, armed with curved 

 teeth, increasing in size towards the margin ; besides the row of marginal 

 plates, the sides have also many smaller ones. 



This genus is somewhat allied to Scice7ia, but differs especially in the pro- 

 trusion of the lower jaw, the presence of symphyseal canine teeth in the upper, 

 the character of the preoperculum, and the single slender spine of the anal 

 fin. 



It is also nearly allied to the typical Otolithi, differing from them by the 

 absence of canine teeth on the lower jaw, the condition of the margin of the 

 preoperculum, the presence of only one anal spine, the character of the lateral 

 line, and especially in the position of the ventral fins. 



Type. Cynoscion regalis Gill. 

 Syn. Otolithus regalis Cuv. et Vol. 



11. 



Lower jaw received within the upper. 



Genus Scijena (Artedi.) 



Scisena sp. Artedi, Genera Piscium, Gen. xxix. 

 Scisena Cuv., Regne Animal, ed. ii. vol. ii. 



Body elongated, with the dorsal outline slowly descending and slightly arch- 

 ed from the dorsal to the snout, and under the second dorsal nearly straight. 

 Caudal peduncle of moderate size. 



Head oblong-conical, the superior surface declining more rapidly than the 

 lower ascends. Snout before convex. Eyes in the anterior half of the head. 

 Mouth oblique ; the supramaxillary bones continued nearly to the vertical of 

 the hinder border of the orbit. Lower jaw little shorter than the upper, and 

 received within the external row of teeth of the upper ja.w. 



Preopercular margin denticulated. 



Teeth in each jaw in one row, distant, recurved and rather large ; behind 

 the external row in the upper jaw there is a band of smaller teeth ; in the 



Composed of xtW, dog and o-jusv, the modern Greek name of the Umbrina cirrhosa, 

 according to Kondelet. The name of Cynoscicena would not be euphonious. 



1861.] 6 



