Jordan and Evermann. — Fishes of North America. 8G7 



Lacerto, Cetti, Hist. Nat. Sard., in, 190, I77'l, Sardinia. 



Scomber col iits, Gmelin, Syst. Nat., i:)20, 17S8, Sardinia; based on Lacerto of Cf.tti. 



Scomber laccrhiK, W.\lbaum, Art. Pi.sc, 20i), 1792, Jardinia; alter Cktti. 



Scomber piii'iininlopliorns, De hx RociiK, Arm. Mus. js'at. Hist., xiii, ."515 and ;!31, IKiilt, Balearic 



Islands. 

 Scomber mwroplilhalmKs^ IxAFitfESQVF,, Indico d'lttiologiaSiciliana, 15, 1810, Palermo. 

 Scomber grcr, MiTcmi.L, Trans. Lit. and Pliilos. Sui-. N. Y., 1815, 422, New York. 

 Scomber maculatus, Coucii, Mag. Nat. Hist., v, 22, 1832, England. 

 Scomber nnditlaliif!, SwAiN.soN, Nat. Hist. Fishe.^, il, 409, 1839, Sicily. 

 Scomber (jracil is, SvTAii^SOfi, Nat. Hist. Fishes, ii, 410, 1839, Sicily. 

 Scomber dieijo, Ayres, rroc. Cal. Ac. Sci., 1S5G, 92, Santa Barbara. 

 Scomber dekaiji, Stokeb, Fishes Mass., 130, 1867, Massachusetts coast. 

 Scomber colias, Dresslau & Fesler, L c, 132, 1889. 



389. AUXIS, Cuvier. 

 (Frigate Mackerels.) 



AuxL% CrviEU, Regne Anim., Ed. 11, Vol. 2, 119, 1829, (rochei). 



Body obloug, plump, mostly naked posteriorly, anteriorly covered with 

 small scales, those of the pectoral region enlarged, forming a corselet. 

 Snout very .short, conical, scarcely compressed. Mouth rather small, the 

 jaws equal. Teeth very small, mostly in a single series, on the jaws only. 

 Tail very slender, depressed, with a rather largo keel on each side. First 

 dorsal short, separated from the second by a considerable interspace. 

 Second dorsal and anal small, each with 7 or 8 finlets. Pectorals and ven- 

 trals small. No air bladder. Branch iostegals 7. Pyloric cieca dendriti- 

 cal. Gill rakers very long and slender, numerous. Vertebr;e 39 in num- 

 ber, peculiarly modified, essentially as in Gipnnosardd. One species, pela- 

 gic, widely distributed, (av^cg, an ancient name of a young tunny, from 

 ab^dvu, to grow.) 



1254. AUXIS THAZARD (LacepMe). 

 (Frigate Mackerel.) 



Head 4 ; depth 4i ; eye 5 ; snout 5. D. X-12-VIII ; A. YII-13 ; Vert. 39. 

 Body robust, scarcely compressed, abruptly contracted at caudal peduncle. 

 Opercle very broad. Scales of corselet and along anterior dorsal region 

 comparatively large. Maxillary almost entirely concealed by preorbital. 

 Dorsal spines rather stiff; space between dorsals f, length of head. About 

 33 gill rakers below angle. Pectoral reaching past middle of first dorsal. 

 Blue, variegated with darker above, becoming plain with age ; bellj- sil- 

 very. All warm seas, occasionally northward to Cape Cod. This species 

 is very erratic in its movements, swimming in large schools in various 

 warm seas. It rarely reaches the coasts of the United States, but it 

 occasionally comes in immense numbers. It is a poor fish, of little value 

 as food. ( Thazard, from the French Tassard, a name applied to the species 

 of Scomheromorus.) 



Scomber IhaMrtl, Lackpede, Hist. Nut. Poiss., in, 9, 1802, 6^ and 7-' S. latitude, coast of New 



Guinea. 

 Scomber rochei, Risso, Ichth. Nice, 165, 1810, Nice. 

 Scomber bisus, Rakinesque, Caratteri, etc., 45, 1810, Palermo. 



