73. TRICHIUEID^. 
421 
rather behind base of pectorals. Head 2| ; depth o. Length of caudal 
lobes 3^. D. Ill, 38-7j A. II, 13-7. Length 8 feet. {Poey.) West In- 
dies, north to Florida ; perhaps a form of the preceding. 
(Poey, Memorias, ii, 243.) 
211.— HaSTIOPIIORUS Lac6pede. 
Sail-Jishes. 
{Istiopliorus Lac^pede, Hist. Nat. Poiss. iii, 1802, 374: type latiopliorus gladifer Lac.= 
iScomber gladius Broussonet.) 
Sword fishes with small teeth on the jaws and palatines, with the ven- 
tral fins present, of 2 or 3 rays, and with the dorsal fins extremely high, 
contiguous, its height much greater than that of the body; anal fin 
divided. Body slender, much comiiressed, covered with elongate scales. 
Intestines short, nearly straight ; air-bladder sacculate. The sword is 
usually shorter than in Xipliias, and the lower jaw more developed. 
The skin is also rougher. Large fishes of the warm seas. (f<rr:ov, sail; 
fopiwj to bear.) 
665. II. g^ladius (Brouss.) Gtlir. — Sail-Jish. 
Membrane of dorsal fin with numerous small spots. Dermal produc- 
tions lanceolate. Upper profile of head descending in a straight line. 
Snout longer than the rest of the head. Head 4 in total length ; depth 
7 or 8 in the same. D. 4G-7 ; A. 10-7; Y. 2. Vertebrm 14-f 10. {Giin- 
ther.) Atlantic and Indian oceans ; occasional on <^ur coast. 
(Scomber gladius Brouss. Mem. Acad. Sci. 1788, 454; Giintlier, ii, 513 : Sistiophorus 
indicus Cuv. & Val. viii, 293 : Histiophorus americanus Cuv. & Val. viii, 303.) 
Family LXXIIL— TRICHIURID^. 
{The Hair -tails.) 
Scombroid fishes with the ventral fins imjierfect or wanting and the 
spinous and soft parts of the dorsal not ditferentiated. Body extremely 
elongate, compressed, naked. Mouth wide, the jaws armed with strong 
unequal teeth. Premaxillaries not i)rotractile. Pseudobranchim pres- 
ent. Gills 4, a slit behind the fourth ; gill-membranes separate, free 
from the isthmus. Lateral line present. Dorsal fin very long, low, 
usually continuous, the rays all similar. Caudal fin small or absent; if 
present, forked. Anal fin very long and low, sometimes scarcely rising 
above the surface of the skin. Yentrals thoracic, rudimentary or want- 
ting. Yertebrse of abdomen and tail in greatly increased number. Air- 
bladder present. Pyloric coeca numerous. Genera about 5 ; species 12, 
