KISHEKY BULLETIN VOL 77, NO :i 



stated that only "young scomberesocids" were 

 taken on the cruise. 



The accounts of S. sniirus by Bigelow and Welsh 

 (1925) and by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953i 

 definitely also involved N. simulans. The figure of 

 the young, after Murray and Hjort, definitely rep- 

 resents the dwarf species, as does the text account 

 of the "young": "The most interesting phase in the 

 development of the skipper is that its jaws do not 

 commence to elongate until the fry have grown to 

 about 1% inches (40 mm.), and that the lower jaw 

 out-strips the upper at first, so that fry of 4 to 6 

 (100 to 150 mm.) inches look more like little 

 halfbeaks ('Hemiramphus' stage) than like their 

 own parents" (quoted from Bigelow and Schroed- 

 er). These confusions were also expressed by Hil- 

 debrand and Schroeder (1928). 



Inclusion of Scomheresox s. saiirua (Giinther 

 1889) in part, in the synonymy of this species, and 

 the inclusion of this species in the British Museum 

 collection, have been verified for us by G. Palmer'' 

 by examination, with our findings at hand, of the 

 following specimens: six young, .31-61 mm, from 

 St. Helena; three. 64-68 mm, from "Atlantic" 

 (Godfrey); three, 29-93 mm, collected by Jones; one 

 of 96 mm of the two without locality collected by 

 Haslar; one of 69 mm taken by Vallentin at 18*32' 

 N, 2909 ' W; one of 52 mm, with two of S. .s. saunis . 

 taken at Tenerife (Canary Islands) by the Chal- 

 lenger; and one of 131 mm ( total body length— see 

 p. 541) by G. Maul in Funchal Harbor, Madeira. 

 Giinther ( 1866, vol. 6:257) reported Sci>mheresox 

 saurus "From 1 '/2 to 7 inches long" from "Atlantic, 

 3°N. of the line," which, on distributional grounds, 

 assuming correct latitude, would be expected to be 

 Nanichthys. However, G. Palmer reports an ex- 

 tant specimen 156 mm long, listed with three of 

 66-98 mm, from "Atlantic (Godfrey)" that is prob- 

 ably the 7-in specimen, but Palmer finds it to be 

 Scorn beresox. 



Zoogeographical considerations might lead to 

 the citation in the synonymy of Nanichthys simu- 

 lans of the material recorded as Scomberesox sau- 

 rus by Arnoult et al. (1966) from off Liberia and 



Equatorial Guinea llles Principe], but Marie- 

 Louise Bauchot (see footnote 4) has informed us 

 that a reexamination of the five specimens in- 

 volved led her to reidentify them as Strongylura 

 senegalensis (Valenciennes) and Platybehme ar- 

 galus (LeSueur). 



Although Valenciennes ( 1846) applied the name 

 Scomheresoxscutullatus to what now seems surely 

 to be Nanichthys simulans (q.v.), we regard the 

 original Scomberesox scutullatum LeSueur as 

 having been based on S. .s. saurus. The locality 

 "Bank of Newfoundland" is in the range of that 

 form and probably far outside the range of its 

 dwarfed relative. The one pertinent key character 

 given, that of 13 pectoral rays, confirms pertinence 

 to Scomberesox. 



Eliissichthys Hubbs and Wisner, 

 new genus 



New genus, Hubbs and Wisner. — Collette 1966:4, 

 6, 7, 15, 20 ( reduced meristics; neotenic | this seems 

 to be the only published reference to Elassichthys 

 as a genus]). 

 Genotype. Cololabis adocctus Bohlke 1951. 



Diagnosis. — A greatly dwarfed scomberesocid 

 (maximum known standard length ca. 68 mm), 

 agreeing with Nanichthys in having a single me- 

 dian ovary largely filling, when ripe, the expanded 

 coelom, and the paired testes folded together into a 

 single median band with the division on the right 

 side. Gas bladder and lateral line scales obsolete. 

 Upper jaw very broadly and evenly rounded in 

 dorsal aspect and only moderately pointed in lat- 

 eral view; lower jaw only moderately pointed at 

 the tuberculate tip (Figure 4). Premaxillary and 

 mandibular tooth rows very broadly separated at 

 front. Counts minimal for the family: vertebrae 

 52-59, usually only 56 or 57; transverse scale rows 

 along midlateral line 70-78; procurrent caudal 

 rays reduced to only 2 or 3; rakers on first gill arch 

 15-21, usually 17 or 18. 



Derivation. — From the Greek, eKdmronw, smaller, 

 less, and t\th''(r. a fish. 



Elassichthys itdocetiis Biihlke 195 I 

 Figure 5B 



Scomhresox sp. — Kendall and Radcliffe 1912:84, 

 167 ( in part).'" 



^G. Palmer. Department of Zoology. British Museum I Natural 

 History I, Cromwell Road. London SW7, England, per.s, commun 

 3 Mav'l968. 



"Young of Scomheresiix saurus scomhroides may well have 

 been included; only three specimens on Mu.seum of Comparative 

 Zoology), among those listed, have been examined by us and aU 

 were found to be E. adocetus from Albatross stations 46.57 

 i07°I2;iO" S. 84'09' Wi, 4708 (11 40' S. 96 .'").'")' Wl. and 47.30 

 ( 17' 19' S, 100°.52 '30 " Wi. Scomherescjx s. scomhroides also occurs 

 in these areas. 



534 



