Jordan and Evertnann. — Fishes of North America. 825 



subterete, covered with scales of moderate size ; head rather large ; max- 

 illary rather small, about 2? in head, not reaching orbit. Jaw with 

 fleshy tip, bluntly conical. Interorbital area flattish; median groove 

 shallow, divided by a very indistinct median ridge; supraocular ridge 

 bony, striate; preocular ridge rather prominent. Premaxillary teeth 

 small, subconical; dentition as in Sphijra'ua horcalis, but slightly weaker; 

 position of spinous dorsal, in comparison with veiitrals, variable; dis- 

 tance from tip of snout to origin of spinous dorsal about 2iV in body; 

 pectorals not reaching spinous dorsal ; space separating dorsals about 51 

 in body; second dorsal equal to and somewhat in advance of anal; 

 cheeks and opercles scaly ; small embedded scales on upper part of head ; 

 scales on body moderate, uniform in size. Color light olive, darker 

 above; poft dorsal, anal and ventral fins yellowish ; spinous dorsal and 

 pectorals darker; upper parts of preopercle and opercle each with a 

 dark spot ; top of head and tip of snout blackish. Not rare. West 

 Indies, on the coasts of Cuba, ranging southward to Bahia. Length 18 

 inches. S. picmlilla is very closely allied to S. horcalis. Its eye is, how- 

 ever, much larger (when specimens similar in size are compared), and the 

 frontal groove is somewhat different, (jyicudilla, diminutive oi picuda.) 



Sphiirii'iia pintdilla, Poey, Memorias, ii, iri2, 1860, Havana ; Meek <fe Newland, Proc. Ac. Nat. 

 Sci. Phila., 1884, 72. 



1203. SPHYR.ENA BOREALIS, De Kay. 



(NonTHEUN Barracuda. 1 



Head 3; depth 2?-; eye rather small, about 6 in head, scarcely exceed- 

 ing width of interorbital area. D. V-9 ; A. I, 9 ; scales 115 to 130. 

 Body rather slender, subterete, covered with moderate-sized scales ; head 

 large; maxillary small, less than 1 head, not reaching front of orbit by 

 i diameter of eye ; lower jaw with fleshy tip, bluntly conical. Interor- 

 bital area convex ; median groove very shallow, divided by a distinct 

 longitudinal ridge, especially well defined immediately before nostrils; 

 supraocular ridge striate ; preocular ridge moderate. Premaxillary teeth 

 small, about 40 in number ; front of premaxillary with two pairs of large 

 teeth (sometimes accompanied by smaller ones), canine-like; anterior 

 smallest, directed downward, posterior ones downward and backward; 

 anterior palatines larger than premaxillary teeth, and more compressed 

 and widely set : posterior ones small and closely set ; orderof teeth on lower 

 jaw reversed, but similar to those on the palatines, and smaller, about 10 in 

 series ; large tooth near tip of lower jaw present. Origin of dorsal over or 

 slightly in advance of ventra]8,we]l behind point of pectorals: distance 

 between dorsal fins 5^ in length of body ; distance from tip of snout to 

 spinous dorsal 2,V, in body ; scales moderate, somewhat larger behind soft 

 dorsal and anal ; cheeks and opercles scaly ; small embedded scales on 

 upper parts of head. Color olivaceous, silvery below ; young with dusky 

 blotches across the back and along the lateral line. Atlantic Coast of 

 United States from Cape Cod to Cape Fear, rather common northward ; 

 a small species closely allied to Sjyhyraua picudilla', rarely used for food. 

 Length rarely more than a foot, {horealis, northern.) 



