Fishes of the IVestern North Atlantic 555 



Generic Synonyms: 



Sa/mo, in part, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. lo, j, 1758: 310, for S . eperlanus L'mnaeus; Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat., 



J, 1831 : 386, 387, for S. {Osmerus) eferlanus and S. iOimerus) spirinc/ius. 

 Eperlanus Gaimard, Voy. Islandc et Grocnl., Atlas, ZooL, I'oiss., 1851: pi. 18, fig. 2; type species Sa/mo eper- 



lanus Linnaeus 1758. 

 Atherina Mitchill, Trans. Lit. philos. Soc. N.Y., 7. 181 5: 446; type species, A.mordax Mitchill 181 5. New 



York. 

 Not Jiierir;a Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, I, 1758: 315; type species, A.hepsetus Linnaeus; Mediterranean; a 



member of the Atherinidae (silversides), a family of percoid fishes. 



Characters. Body slender, laterally flattened. Head pointed, about 0.2 of length 

 to base of caudal fin. Mouth wide. Upper jaw reaching rearward beyond center of 

 eye. Tip of Lower jaw projecting a little beyond upper. Snout in front of eye about 

 as long as eye. Branchiostegal rays 7-8. Gill rakers about 67 "/„ as long as eye, 

 about 25—37 on first arch. 



Dorsal fin small, its origin at or near inidlength of trunk, with lo-ii rays, 

 the first 2 or 3 rays not branched. Adipose fin well developed. Caudal fin deeply 

 forked. Anal with more rays than dorsal, but 17 at most, the first 3 (rarely 2) not 

 branched. Pelvics under or a little posterior to origin of dorsal. Pectorals about as 

 long as upper jaw. 



Scales in less than 80 transverse series; thin, transparent, smooth-edged, the ex- 

 posed surface sculptured with many fine concentric striations, and wholly without 

 pigment; those perforated by the lateral line with a low median ridge, and some weakly 

 indented posteriorly in the midline;* scales elsewhere without median ridge and with 

 evenly rounded rear outline. Visible Lateral line not extending beyond origin of 

 dorsal fin. 



Teeth. Root of mouth with a few large canine-like teeth (not shed in spawning 

 season) on lateral tips of U-shaped vomerine bone; teeth also present on tip of tongue; 

 smaller teeth present on the jaws, the palatine bones on roof of mouth, and the pharynx. 

 Bony plate on dorsal side of skull above vomer (Proethmoid of Starks) with a longi- 

 tudinal median suture. 



Vertebrae 55—64. Pyloric caeca 7 at most.' 



Sexual Dimorphism. At spawning time, large numbers of so-called "nuptial" 

 tubercles develop on the scales of the body and along the rays of the dorsal and pectoral 

 fins of the males, making them so rough to the touch that it is easy to tell the males 

 from the females (^^g: 141 \ 42: 86; ^p: 27, 28). 



Range. Coastal waters, estuarine situations, and fresh water in lower courses of 

 streams and rivers of the western North Atlantic from the outer coast of Labrador 

 (about 54° N; head of Hamilton Inlet) and the Strait of Belle Isle south regularly to 

 the tidal reaches of the rivers tributary to Delaware Bay (p. 568); the eastern Atlantic 

 from southeastern Norway and the Gulf of Bothnia southward to the Loire River, and 



6. Smitt has described and pictured the lateral-line scales as being deeply incised posteriorly (104: 865, fig. 218). But 

 our own experience with the scales, of both American and European smelts, suggests that this appearance was 

 the result of mutilation. 



7. For other anatomical details, see especially Smitt {104: 864, 865) and Chapman (11: :8o). 



