THE FOMPANOES. 203 



Island of Gorea, on the west coast of Africa, resembles in general form 

 the Round Pompano, though somewhat more elongate, while the head is 

 larger, being contained four and a half times in the total length. The 

 anterior rays of the dorsal and anal extend beyond the middle of the fin, 

 if laid backward. In the number of the fin rays it corresponds most 

 closely with the Round Pompano. I first became familiar with the species 

 through examining a small specimen in the collection of my friend, J. 

 Matthew Jones, Esq., of " The Hermitage," Smith's Parish, Bermuda, in 

 1876, has since been repeatedly observed on our own coast. It is the 

 largest of the Pompanoes. Dr. J. W. Velie obtained two large specimens 

 in West Florida, and in 1879, Mr. Blackford sent to the National Museum 

 a giant of the same species, taken at J^ipiter Inlet, about two feet 

 long, and weighing twenty-three pounds. It has since become evident that 

 the species figured by Girard in the ichthyology of the United States and 

 Mexican boundary, under the name Doliodon caroliiius, is really TracJiy- 

 nofus goreensis, and that its occurrence in the Gulf of Mexico is not 

 unusual. 



In the Gulf of Mexico it is not unusual, being known at Key West as 

 the " Permit.' ' 



Stearns informs us that this fish is rather common along the lower end 

 of the the Florida Peninsula, and is often taken in seines at Cedar Keys, 

 and at the mullet fisheries of Sarasota and Charlotte Harbor, as well as 

 about Key West. 



The Banner Pompano, T. glaucus, has a somewhat elongate body and a 

 small head. It is much thinner than either of the other species. Its sil- 

 very sides are marked with four blackish vertical streaks ; the best 

 distinguishing mark is in the length of the first rays of the dorsal and 

 anal, which extend back nearly to the tip of the caudal fin. 



It is a member of the West Indian fauna, and is represented in the 

 National Museum by specimens from Pensacola, Key West, the Bahamas 

 and the Bermudas. Stearns remarks that it is obtained frequently at Pen- 

 sacola with the other species, but is never very common, is seen only in 

 the spring, and is not valued as a food-fish. Professor Jordan tells me that 

 it is not rare along the Carolina and Gulf coasts, and that at Pensacola, 

 wherever it is known as the 'Gall-topsail Pompano,' it is held in low 

 esteem. The allied species, Trachynotus fasciatus, has lately been noticed 

 by Jordan and Gilbert on the Pacific side of the Isthmus of Panama. 



