Jordan and £verfnann. — Irishes of JVort/i America. 759 



straying to America, placed in two genera, Macrorhamphosus and Ceutri- 

 ncops. (Centriscidw, part, genus Centriscns,* Giinther, iii, 518-524, 1861.) 

 (I. Body oblong, graduating into the caudal peduncle; back straight; dorsal spines about 7. 



Macrouhamphosus, 343. 



343. MACRORHAMPHOSUS, Lacepede. 



(Snipefishes.) 



Macrorhamphosus, Lac£peI)E, Hist. Nat. Poiss., v, 136, 1803, {cornutus:=scolopax). 

 Centrisciis, Cuvier, Regne Anim., Ed. i, ii, 350, 1817, {scolopaj:; not Cenlriscixs, L.). 

 Macrognalhiis, Gronow, Cat. Fishes, 147, 1854, (scolopajr). 

 Orthichthis, Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1862, 234, {veUlnrts). 



Body oblong, graduating into the caudal peduncle; back straight ; dor- 

 sal spines about 7. Characters otherwise included above. {/laKpuc, long; 

 paiuipog, snout.) 



1109. MACRORHAMPHOSUS SCOLOPAX (Linnseus). 

 (Snipefish ; Trumpet-fish ; Bellhws-fish.) 



Head 2i ; depth 3* to 4. D. V-12 : A. 20 ; vertebra? 8 + 16. Body 

 strongly compressed and somewhat elevated, covered with small striated 

 scales, each stria terminating in a rather strong spine ; second dorsal 

 spine very strong, serrated posteriorly, its length about ^ total length of 

 fish ; snout several times longer than the rest of the head. Rose red or 

 reddish olive above, silvery on the sides and belly. Mediterranean Sea ; 

 occasional northward to southern England ; accidental on our North 

 Atlantic Coast, (scolopax, snijie.) (Eu.) 



Balistes scolopax, LiNNiEUS, Syst. Nat., Ed. x, 1758, 329, Mediterranean. 

 Silurtts comtUvs, Forskal, Descr. Anim., 66, 1775, Marseilles. 



Centriscus scolopax, Linn^us, Syst. Nat., Ed. xii, i, 415, 17G6 ; Ginther, Cat., iii, 518, 1861; 

 Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 388, 1883. 



Order AA. LOPHOBRANCHII. 



(The Lophobranchs.) 



Gills tufted, not laminated, composed of small rounded lobes attached 

 to the gill arches. luterclavicles well developed. Scapula suspended to 

 the cranium by a post-temporal. Superior branchihyals and pharyngeals, 

 and basal branchihyals wanting or not ossified. Mouth very small, 

 bounded above by the premaxillaries. Post-temporal simple, coossiried 

 with the cranium; basis of the cranium simple. Pectoral fins with 

 elevated bases. Anterior vertebrte modified, the diapophyses much 

 expanded. Air bladder simple, without air duct. Snout produced, bear- 

 ing the small toothless mouth at the end. Gill covers reduced to a large 

 simple plate. Skin with bony plates. Muscular system little developed. 



* The original type of Cimlriiicna, Liniia^ns, and the only species placed by him in Cenlriscim in 

 the tenth edition of the Systema Natura?, is (Joitrixctm scutatus L., a species of a different family. 

 For the genus usually called Amphisile, the name Centriscus must therefore be used. 



