724 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



1074. El'LEPTORHAJIPHUS VELOX, Poev. 



Head 6§^; depth 10; mandible about 3. D. 22; A. 21; V. 6, Body 

 extremely slender and elongated, much compressed, ahnost band-like. 

 Back thin, subcariuate. Lower jaw very slender and long, much longer 

 than the rest of the head. Teeth very feeble, the lower tricuspid. Eye 

 large, about equal to snout, about 3 in head. Pectoral fins long and 

 slender, half as long as mandible, more than \ the length of body ; upper 

 rays of pectorals broad and compressed; ventrals not longer than eye, 

 inserted far back ; caudal fin unequallj^ forked, the lower lobe the longer. 

 Olivaceous; sides silvery. Length 18 inches. West Indies, occasionally 

 northward in the Gulf Stream to Massachusetts; rare." Perhaps itleuti- 

 cal with the East Indian species, JSulcjiiorhnnqihus lon{)irostris, as supposed 

 by Putnam and others, but no adequate! comparison of specimens of the 

 two species has been made, (velox, SAvift.) 



ff Uemirliamplms longiroslHs, Cuvier, Kegne Anim., Eil. 2, Vol. 2, 286, 182!), Pondicherry. 

 ff Hemirhamplms macrorhynchus, Covier & Valrnciennes, Hist, Nat. Poiss., xix, 66, pi. 556, 



184G, open sea, 177° E., 7° S. 

 f Eidcplorliamplms hrevoorii, Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 18.')9, 131, no locality. 

 Eideplorliamphvs relax. Poet, Synopsis, 383, 1867, Cuba; D. 1!); A. 21. 

 f Hemirhamjihus longirostris and H. inacrorhiDtchnu, Gi'nther, Cat., vi, 270, 1866. 

 Etileptorhaniphus longiroslrui,l Putnam, Proc. Best. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1870, 238; Jordan & Gilbert, 



Synopsis, 377, 1883. 



Family XCVI. SCOMBRESOCID^. 



(The Saukiks.) 



Body elongate, compressed, covered with small, thin, deciduous scales, 

 the general aspect being that of a mackerel. Both jaws in the adult 

 more or less prolonged, forming a slender beak, the upjier jaw always the 

 longer; teeth very feeble, pointed; maxillaries joined fast to premaxil- 

 laries ; pectoral and ventrals small ; dorsal and anal low, similar to each 

 other, each with 4 to 6 detached finlets, as in the Scotnhrida'; gill rakers 

 numerous, long and slender. Pharyngeal bones essentially as in Exocwtus; 

 fourth upper pharyngeal on each side wanting or fused with the third; 

 third i^haryngeal greatly enlarged, separate from its fellow, covered with 

 tricuspid teeth; second with simple teeth; first toothless; lower pharyn- 

 geals united, forming a triangular bone with concave surface, covered 

 with tricuspid teeth ; into the hollow of this bone the upper pharyngeals 

 fit. Species four or five, here arranged in two genera; pelagic fishes, swim- 

 ming close to the surface in large schools in temperate regions. They 

 bear strong analogical resemblances to the mackerels in form, color, and 



*Lonnberg found a specimen on the beach at New Smyrna, Florida. 



fProfessor Putnam identifies the American species with the East Tndiaa E. lom/irostris. Poey 

 counts D. 19; A. 21; Valenciennes, D. 22; A. 20. 



X Poey thus describes Eitleptorhamphiis relax, comparing it with Cuvier's account of E 

 longirostris: 



Height of body IOI3 in length of trunk from gill opening to base of caudal; head 073 in 

 trunk; beak 4 in total length; eye H]/^ in head; pectorals SV, in length of trunk; base of dorsal 

 as broad as pectoral; anal a little Ihss" and farther hack: dorsal rays as hiffh as the trunk below 

 them; lower caudal lobe much the longer. D. 19; A. 21. Silvery; back bluish; fins pale. (lu 

 E. longimstrif tUe beight-.as above goes 10 times; head 0; beak 4; eye 3 in head; pectorals 3§, 

 broader than dorsal; dorsal rays twice depth of body below it. D. 22; A. 20.) 



