128 PROCEEDINGS OP THE ACADEMY OP [1884. 



Trachynotus argenteus Gill, Cat. Fish. East Coast N. A., 1861, 37 



(name only). 

 Trachynotus pampanus Ouv. & Val., op. cit. (Charleston, S. C.) ; Storer, 



Syn. Fish. N. A., 1846, 99. 

 Trachynotus pampanus Giinther, Cat. Fi.sh. Brit. Mus., ii, 1860, 484 



(Jamaica) ; Gill, Proc, Acad. Kat. Sci. Phila., 1862, 262 (Cape San 



Lucas). 



Bothrolmmus pampanus Holbrook, Ich. S. Cav., 1860 (Charleston) ; 



Gill, Cat. Fish. East Coast N. A., 1861, 37 (name only). 

 IdcMa Carolina DeKay, N. Y. Fauna, iv, 1842, 114, PI. x, f. 3 (Sandy 



Hook) ; Storer, Syn. Fish. N. A., 1846, 96 ; Baird, Ninth Rep, 



Smith. Inst., 1854, 21 (Beesley's Point, N. J.). 



Habitat. — Atlantic (and Pacific) Coasts of America: Wood's 

 Holl, Newport, Sandy Hook, Beesley's Point, Beaufort, Charles- 

 ton, Pensacola, St. Joseph's Island, Egmont Key, Key West, Mar- 

 tinique and Cape San Lucas. 



Head 4 in length ; depth 2f ; D. YI-I, 25 ; A. II-I, 22. Length 

 (No. 434, L U., Key West) 15i inches. 



Body oblong, comparatively robust ; greatest thickness 3 in 

 greatest depth. Snout from mouth to horizontal from upper 

 edge of eye nearly vertical, somewhat bluntly rounded ; profile 

 from upper edge of snout to procumbent spine evenly convex. 

 Mouth nearly horizontal, maxillary reaching to vertical from 

 middle of eye, its length 2| in head ; eye 4^ in head, about as 

 long as snout. Jaws without teeth in adult. Ventrals reach | 

 distance to vent, about 2 in pectorals, 2^ in liead. Dorsal and 

 anal fins falcate ; anterior rays nearly reach middle of fins when 

 depressed; dorsal lobe 4^; anal 5| in length of body. Color 

 bluish above, silvery or slightly golden below ; pectorals and 

 anal light orange shaded with bluish ; caudal and upper portion 

 of caudal peduncle with bluish reflections'. 



On our South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts this is by far the most 

 abundant species of the genus, and it is the one most esteemed 

 as food. Its distribution in the West Indies is little known, the 

 only positive record from points south of Kej^ West being that 

 of " Trachynotus cupreus " from Martinique. The only specimens 

 known from the West Coast are those taken by Xantus at Cape 

 San Lucas. While we have no good reason to doubt that the 

 specimens now in the National Museum really came from Xantus, 

 it is strange that no later collectors in Lower California and 

 Sinaloa have found either this species or Trachynotus rhodopus. 



