Zoology.-] NATURAL HISTORY OF VICTORIA. [Fishes. 



Plate 172. 



SERIOLA LALANDI (Cuv. and Val.). 



The Yellow- Tail. 



[Genus SERIOLA (Ctrv.) (Sub-kingdom Vertebrata. Class Pisces. Sub-class Teleostei. 

 Order Acanthopterygii. Family Carangidas.) 



Oen. Char.— Body oblong, elongate, ovate, moderately compressed ; profile of head 

 moderately convex, slightly convex thence to origin of second dorsal, nearly straight thence to 

 depression near base of caudal ; profile of belly gently convex to origin of anal, nearly straight 

 thence to a slight depression near origin of caudal; abdomen rounded, not sharp-edged. Scales 

 very small, irregularly arranged. Cleft of the mouth moderate. First dorsal with small spines 

 connected by membrane, nearly joining the very long falcate second dorsal ; anal falcate, with 

 two sm.all spines, separate from the others in front ; no finlets behind dorsal nor anal ; caudal 

 large, forkeii ; pectoral and thoracic ventrals moderate. Lateral line undulated in anterior half, 

 straight on posterior half, not armed by peculiar scales. Preoperculum very finely serrated by 

 minute radiating striae. Teeth forming broad, villiform bands on the jaws, the vomer and the 

 palatine bones. Branchiostegal rays seven. Air-bladder large. Pyloric appendages many. 

 Tropical and temperate seas.] 



D. 7'l/34; A. 2-1/31; C. |±i|; P. 20 ; V. 1. 5; L. lat. 203|f. 



Description. — Body elongate, ovate, greatest depth at origin of second dorsal, 

 about equal to from snout to middle of base of pectoral ; about 4 J times in total length 

 to end of caudal fin ; snout about twice the diameter of the eye in length ; maxillary 

 very broad, as wide as diameter of eye behind, with supplementary bone above, 

 reaching a little beyond anterior margin of orbit ; ventrals 2^ in distance between 

 their origin and origin of anal. Teeth: A broad band of minute villiform teeth on 

 each jaw ; a broad, ovate patch on each palatine, behind which are larger groups of 

 small clusters of minute teeth ; vomer with a large patch, broad and rhombic in 

 front, with a narrow posterior prolongation ; a large rhomboidal patch on tongue, 

 with numerous small clusters on sides. Scales : Very small, rounded, irregularly 

 arranged ; with an imperfect fan of few rays behind, and the concentric lines ot 

 growth slightly undulated, but not enough to serrate the posterior edge; those on 

 cheeks about the same size as those on body ; those of tubular lateral line narrow, 

 elongate, oblong. The posterior and inferior edges of the preoperculum marked with 

 very fine, radiating stride, about 14 in three lines, giving a very minute, almost imper- 

 ceptible serration to the edge (too coarse in our plate). Lateral line slightly and 

 irregularly undulated to vertical of origin of anal, thence straight to middle of tail, 

 raised into a distinct keel on the middle of pedicle. Fitis : Spines of anterior dorsal 

 thick but short, first spine one-third the length of the second; second dorsal falcate, 

 the first ray simple, less than half the length of the second, all the rest largely 

 branched ; the second, third and fourth longest, rapidly diminishing to the fourteenth, 

 after which they are nearly equal to the last two, which are larger than the preceding 

 ones. Anal : The two short anterior spines, without membrane, are about the length 

 of the second one, distant from the rest of the anal fin ; first spine of continuous anal 

 about one-third the length of the succeeding branched ray, which is longest ; the 

 length rapidly diminishing to the eighth, after which the length is nearly uniform 

 to the last two, which are longer. Caudal large, deeply forked, the middle nearly 

 straight. Pectoral and ventral fins moderately pointed. 



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