FAMILY XIV. ATHERINID.E. 181 



Head^f; depth 5; D. v-i2; A. 18 to 20; scales 19-75. Body 

 elongate, compressed; snout rather depressed, its length 2^ in head; 

 mouth large, lower jaw slightly the longer; mandible 2| in head; 

 teeth in a band, not close set, some slightly enlarged, canine-like; 

 occasionally a few canine-like teeth on vomer; eye 5 to 5^ m head; 

 origin of dorsal fin midway between base of caudal fin and nostril; 

 pectoral i% m head, ventral 2^ ; base of anal fin if in head; scales 

 small, with crenate edges, those on nape and breast much reduced; 

 lateral line represented by a few pores; gill rakers slender, about 26 

 on first arch; vertebrae 23 + 20=43. 



Color light brownish, translucent; a dark silvery lateral band; 

 individuals taken in lakes with much vegetation very dark with 

 anterior half of head often black. Length about 12 inches. 



Of the larger fishes of this group this one is the most widely dis- 

 tributed. It is one of the most important market fish in the regions 

 where found. 



67. Meiiidia Bonaparte. 



Menidia Bonaparte, Fauna Italica, about 1836. (No type indicated, 

 Atherina menidia Linnaeus probably intended.) 



Body elongate, more or less compressed; head compressed; belly 

 before ventrals more or less rounded, not compressed to an edge; 

 mouth small, the gape. curved, very oblique, the maxillary quite or 

 entirely slipping under preorbital; teeth in jaws in band or in more 

 than one series, none on vomer or palatines; premaxillaries freely 

 protractile ; dorsal fins short ; first dorsal over or in front of anal fin ; 

 no scales on dorsal and anal fins. 



A large group of small fishes belonging to salt or brackish water, 

 a few species entering fresh water. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF MENIDIA. 



a. Anterior rays of soft dorsal and anal produced, 



longest anal rays equaling depth of body; pec- PAGE 



toral fin as long as head sallei 181 



aa. Anterior rays of soft dorsal and anal scarcely 



produced, longest anal ray less than depth of 



body; pectoral fin shorter than length of head lisa 182 



171. Menidia sallei (Regan). 



Atherinichthys sallei Regan, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1903, 60; 

 Mexico. 



Distribution not known. 



Head 5 (in total); depth less than length of head; D. iv-i, 8; A. n, 

 19; scales 10-43. Diameter of eye greater than length of snout, 2f 



