JordiDi and E^'ermann. — FisJies of North America. 947 



Atlantic and Indian oceans ; widely distributed ; of late years very abun- 

 dant on our Atlantic Coast ; a largo, voracious fish, extremely destructive 

 to other fishes ; highly valued for food, the flesh being most excellent. 

 Occasional in the Mediterranean ; Cspecimens from Athens examined by 

 us). (AaZ<«<nx, one who leaps.) (Eu.) 



Parca mHalrix, LiNN.«us, Sjst. Nat., Ed. x, 1758, i, 203, Carolina; after Vvrca marina saltatrix, 



tho Skipjack of Catf.sby. 

 Perca luphat; ForskAl, Descr. Anini., 177'), Constantinople. 



ChethMlipterus heptacandiiis, Lac£i'EDE, Hist. Nat. Poi.ss., Fort Dauphin, Madagascar. 

 Puniatomns skill, LAcfipEDE, Hist. Nat Poiss, iv, 436, 1802, Carolina. 

 Lopliari.imediterraneiis, Rafinesque, Indice, 17, 1810; ufter Fursi\.\l. 

 Ooneiiion serra, Rafinesque, Indice, 53, 1810, Sicily. 

 Chromis epicKrornm, Gronow, Cat., Ed. Gray, 119, 1854, Carolina; " Piscis sapidissinius et jialato 



epicurorum gratissimus." 

 SparactodoH naliud, De Rociiebrune, Bull. Sci. Philoni. Paris, 159, 1880, Senegambia. 

 Gaf:leroiilem saltidrix, Linn.t.vs, Syst. Nat., Ed. .\ii, 491, 17GG. 

 Temnodon saUator, Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Hat. Poiss., ix, 225, 1833; S-^orer, Hist. Fish. 



Mass., 159, pi. 15, fig. 1, 1839; Gunther, Cat., ii, 479, 18G0; Steindacuner, IcUth. Beitriige, 



1881. 

 Pomalomus s<dlalor, Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 448, 1883. 

 PotiuUoiims sallalrix, Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 914, 1883. 



f^amily CXXVII. EACHYCENTRID^.* 



(Sergeant Fishes.) 



Body elongate, fusiform, subcylindrical, coveredwith very small, smooth, 

 adherent scales. Lateral line nearlj' parallel with the back. Head rather 

 lu'oad, low, pike-like, the bones above appearing through the thin skin. 

 Mouth rather wide, nearly horizontal, the maxillary about reaching front 

 of eye ; both jaws, vomer, palatines, and tongue with bands of short, 

 sharp teeth; lower jaw longest; premaxillaries not protractile ; preopercle 

 unarmed. First dorsal represented by about 8 low, stout, equal, free 

 spines, each depressible in a groove ; soft dorsal long and rather low, 

 somewhat falcate, similar to and nearly opposite anal ; 2 weak anal spines, 

 one of them free from the fin ; pectorals moderate, placed low ; ventrala 

 thoracic, I, 5; caudal fin strong, forked, on a moderate peduncle; no caudal 

 keel; no finlets. Gill rakers rather short, stout; no air bladder; branchi- 

 ostegals 7 ; pyloric ca>ca branched ; vertebrae 12 + 13 = 25. A single genus 

 with probably but one species; a large, strong, voracious shore fish, found 

 in all warm seas. Its relations are with the Scombroid fishes, although 

 not close to any of the other groups. The superficial resemblance 



*Tlio osteology of this family i.s given as follows by Dr. Gill: "Acanthopterygians with a 

 deprcssiMl, broad, distegous cranium, tho medifroutines double, plane, sculptured, and perfectly 

 ecariiiate; tlii' sphenotiis witli the upper surface piano and scarcely <lccIivous; tin' iiarcthmoids 

 ex.sertcd, with tho tipper surface nearly continuous with the medifroutinef! and the lower with 

 the parasphenoid, and imperforate; the |)rosetliinoid with a large and nearly square tabular sur- 

 face and a short declivous portion at a very obtuse angle with the former; the supraoccipitine 

 with an anterior ecarinate plane portion and a posterior cristiform portion; the lateral posterior 

 crests very low, depressed, and ceasing at the medifrontines; the b;vsioccipitine solid below; tho 

 exocclpitine condyles distant from each other; the parasphenoid very broad and ecarinate; the 

 contour of the body fusiform; the head wedge-shaped and broad; tho scales small and cycloid; 

 the caudal fin with procurreut raylets; dor-siil fin long and jjieceded by free spines recliuable in 

 grooves, and normal pectoral and ventral fins." 



