FISHES OF NEW YORK 431 



at Beeslej^s Point N. J. Aug. 11, 1887, showed the following col- 

 ors: caudal yellow; basal half of elevated part of anal yel- 

 low; cheeks and lower half of sides also yellow; a black oper- 

 cular spot, but none on pectoral; several narrow pale bars on 

 sides; tip of elevated part of soft dorsal dusky; membrane be- 

 tween dorsal spines dusky; iris copper color. 



The yellow mackerel is a widely distributed fish in warm seas;, 

 it is recorded from the East Indies, both coasts of tropical 

 America, and northward to Cape Ann and the Gulf of California. 

 The young are common at Woods Hole Mass., where they appear 

 in July and become most abundant in October. Individuals 1 

 inch long have been obtained there about July 1; larger fish 

 occur in the fall. In August 1898 only a few young ones were 

 secured in Great South bay and at Southampton L. I. 



The fish probably spawns in west Florida in May in the salt 

 water bayous, as the young fish are seen coming out of such 

 places in schools in the fall on their way to the sea. Fish weigh- 

 ing about a pound or two are considered equal to pompano for 

 the table, but large fish are not esteemed, the flesh being dark 

 and almost tasteless. The species reaches the weight of 20 

 pounds. 



The yellow mackerel resembles the big-ej-ed scad in its endur- 

 ance of captivity and its feeding habits. At the end of Novem- 

 ber it has been known to thrive in a pool containing about 

 50,000 gallons of water in company with the crevall^, the big- 

 eyed scad and other species. 



Genus alectis Rafinesque 

 Body rhomboid, deep, strongly compressed, more or less com- 

 pletely covered with minute embedded scales, sometimes appar- 

 ently naked; scutes on the straight part of the lateral line en- 

 larged, bony and spinous, as in C a r a n x , but much less de- 

 veloped; mouth moderate, with bands of villiform teeth on jaws, 

 vomer, palatines and tongue; first dorsal fin little developed, the 

 spines short and rudimentary, mostly disappearing with age; 

 soft dorsal and anal similar to each other; the first five or six 



