Jordan and Ever maun. — Fishes of North America. 935 



Arfiyreioann setipinni% var. A., Guntiiek, Cat., u, 459, lsi;0, Fernando Po ; San Domingo ; 



Jamaica ; Bahia. 

 Vomer gahouensis, Gvichenot, Ann. Soc. Linn. Maine ot Loire, 1865, 42, Gaboon. 

 Arijiireioms gahonemis, Steindachner, Fisch -Fauna des Senegals, 38, 1809. 

 Curanx nelipiituis (jahonciisis, Jordan Sc Gilbeut, Proc. U. S. Nut. Mus., 1883, 204. 



426. SELENE, LacdpMe. 



(MOONFISHES.) 



Selene, LAcf;p£DE, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 560, 1803, (argenlea = young of vomer). 

 Argyreioxus, Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 566, 1803, {vomer). 



Body very closely compressed and much elevated, the profile very 

 ol)Ii(iue or nearly vertical ; edges of body everywhere trenchant, espe- 

 cially anteriorly. Head short and very deep, the opercle very short, and 

 the preorbital extremely deep ; an abrupt angle at the occipital region. 

 Mouth rather small; premaxillaries protractile, fitting into a notch 

 between the bases of the maxillaries ; niaxillaries broad, each with a 

 supplemental bone. Tongue narrow, free. Teeth minute, on jaws, 

 tongue, vomer, and palatines. Gill rakers long and slender. Spines of 

 fins usually weak, more or less filamentous in the young ; free anal spines 

 immovable, sometimes obsolete in the adult. Soft fins falcatS, much 

 elevated. No fiulets. Head naked. Scales minute. Lateral line wholly 

 unarmed. Coloration silvery. Tropical seas. Notwithstanding its extra- 

 ordinary form, this genus differs in no important regard from Caranx. 

 (aelr/vTi, the moon.) 



a. Dorsal with about 18 soft raj-s, anal with about 15; anterior profile of head curved; bones 



of head lower and less oblique thau in Sele)ie vomer. (ERSTedii, 1331. 



aa. Dorsal with about 23 soft ra.vs, anal with about 18; anterior profile of head, from base 



of snout to occiput, almost perfectly straight. vomek, 1332. 



1331. SELENE (EBSTEDII, Liitken. 



Head 3 : depth 2. D. VI-I, 15 ; A. (II)-I, U ; eye 4 in head : snout If; 

 maxinary2i; ventral 3^; caudal lobes equal head; pectoral i longer 

 than head. Body compressed and elevated, but less so than in Seleuc comer; 

 profile oblique, concave over snout, then straight to occiput, which is 

 well rounded; line, of back straight to soft dorsal, then slightly curved 

 to caudal peduncle; ventral outline rounded on breast to ventrals, then 

 straight to anal, forming an angle at first ray, then straight to caudal 

 peduncle. Mouth projecting, with minute teeth on jaws, vomer, pala- 

 tines, and tongue; gill rakers thick and blunt, many of them knobbed at 

 tip — in old examples at least, 1 above angle with 3 or 4 rudimentary 

 ones, and 13 below. A large thickened knob at occiput, very conspicu- 

 ous in adult, due to the thickening of the supraoccipital crest. Pectoral 

 falcate, reaching to tenth anal ray ; dorsal and anal lobes filamentous, 

 reaching past tips of caudal lobes ; lateral line strongly arched, its curve 

 equal to its straight part. Color silvery, with bluish reflections above; 

 dorsal and caudal dark, pectoral, ventral, and anal white; axil dusky. 

 Length 15 inches. Pacific Coast of tropical America, fromMazatlau to 



