FISHES OF NEW YORK 333^ 



166 Exocoetus furcatus (Mitcliill) 

 Flying Fish 



Exocoetus finrattts Mitchill, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y. I, 449, pi. V, 



fig. 2. 1815; De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 231, 1842. 

 Exocoetus nuttaUi Le Sueub, Join: Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 10, pi. IV, fig. 1, 



1821, Gulf of Mexico; Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. YI. 286. 1866. 

 Ci/psclunis furcatus Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 380, 



1883. 

 Exocoetus furcatus Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. VI, 286, 18<36; Jordan 



& Meek, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 61, 1885; Jordan & Etermann, Bull. 



47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 737, 1896. 



Body slender, compressed, moderately elongate, its dej)tli con- 

 tained five and one fourth times in total length without caudal; 

 head not very broad, much narrowed forward, its length con- 

 tained four and one half times in total without caudal; the snout 

 rather pointed, more comj)ressed than in other species; inter- 

 orbital area flat, its width at anterior margin of orbit equal to 

 diameter of eye, which is one third of length of head; mouth 

 small, maxillary not reaching orbit, its length four and three 

 fourths in head, mandible two and one half in head; snout 

 four and one fifth in head; eye one third of length of head; 

 pectoral fin long and broad, its length one and two ninths in 

 length of body, extending to 10th ray of dorsal, first pectoral 

 ray simple, slightly more than one half the length of fin, second 

 ray divided, third and fourth rays longest; ventral origin mid- 

 way between hind margin of eye and base of caudal, ventrals 

 long, four ninths of length of body, their tips reaching almost to 

 caudal fin; dorsal fin rather high, its longest ray two thirds as 

 long as the head, its base nearly equal to head; anal fin inserted 

 farther back than dorsal, its base three fifths as long as dorsal 

 base, its longest ray one half as long as the head; lower caudal 

 lobe two sevenths as long as the body. D. 13; A, to 10. Scales 

 in lateral line 16; about 29 rows in advance of dorsal fin and 

 about 23 on the lateral line in advance of the ventrals; S rows 

 between the dorsal origin and the lateral line. 



Brownish above, silvery below; the lower posterior half of 

 pectorals black, the upper pectoral rays with a broad white 

 band, the tips of the rays whitish, other parts marbled with 



