Jordan and Evcrmann. — Fishes of North America. 1421 



ee. Color grayish, silvery, with about 7 dark vertical cross bars ; second anal 

 spine short, 3J in head. Body heavy forward, much compressed, 

 the snout very short and blunt, 5| in head; mouth large, less 

 oblique than in otlier species; tip of premaxillary on level of mid- 

 dle of pupil; maxillary 2 in head; gill rakers extremely elongate, 

 as long as eye, 12 + 24; second anal spine short, J shorter than the 

 first soft ray. D. X-I, 24 to 26; A. II, 5 or 6. fasciatus, 1805. 



Subgenus AMBLYSCION, Gill. 



1800. LARIMUS ARGENTEUS (Gill). 



Head 3^; depth 3; suout very short, 5^ in head; eye large, 4f. D. X-I, 

 27; A. II, 6; scales 6-49-10. Body rohust, strongly compressed. Mouth 

 large, the cleft vertical ; anterior profile slightly convex, nearly horizontal ; 

 maxillary not extending beyond anterior margin of pupil, its end wide 

 and truncate, 2 in head; teeth all minute, in a single row in each jaw; 

 preopercle with a striated and cilliated membranaceous border ; gill rakers 

 I length of eye, 7+16; scales on head all cycloid; lateral line running out 

 to end of caudal rays ; highest dorsal spine 2\ in head ; second anal spine 

 strong, nearly as long as rays, its tip reaching to tip of last ray, its length 

 2|; ventrals a little shorter than pectorals, which are about as long as 

 head. Color plumbeous above, golden below and on sides ; a black axil- 

 lary spot ; a large steel-blue opercular spot ; no traces of dark stripes along 

 the rows of scales. Of all known 'species of Sciwnidw, this one has the 

 mouth most nearly vertical. There is, however, in its structure nothing 

 to warrant its separation as a distinct genus, Amhlyscion. Mazatlan to 

 Panama; locally common; a most singtilar fish, (arf/enteus, silvery.) 



Amhlyscion argentetis, Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1863, 165, West coast of Central 



America. (Coll. Capt. J. M. Dow.) 

 Larimus argenleus, Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. F. S. Fish. Coium. 1882, 110; .Toruan & 



ElGENMANN, I. C, 375. 



Subgenus LARIMUS. 



1801. LARIMBS EFFULGEXS, Gilbert. 



Head3ito3rV; depth 2* to 3. D. XI, 28 to 30; A. II, 6; P. 16. Eye 

 large, 3i to 4i in head; interorbital space 4^ to 4.^; pores of lateral line 

 49 or 50. Mouth slightly more oblique than in L. acclivis, much less 

 so than in L. argenteus. Premaxillaries anteriorly on a level with middle 

 of pupil (lower part of pupil in L. acclivis). Maxillary reaching about 

 vertical from front of pupil, 2i to 2f in head. Teeth minute, close-set, 

 even, in a single series in each jaw, none of them enlarged. Preopercular 

 margin membranous, with flexible ribs ending in minute spinules. Gill 

 rakers very long, j diameter of orbit, 19 or 20 on horizontal limb of arch. 

 Dorsal spines high and flexible, the first 2 not noticeably thickened; 

 tenth spine shortest; soft dorsal very long, its base 2^ to 21 in length; 

 third dorsal spine longest, 2 to 2^ in head; the longest dorsal ray equals 

 length of snout and eye; second anal spine very strong, 2i in head; pec- 

 toral very long and narrow, I'n longer than head, injured in most speci- 

 mens; ventrals reaching to or slightly beyond vent, 1^ in head; caudal 



