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378 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. ' 
i 
ray of pectoral divided, tliird ray longest. Ventral fins not reaching j 
nearly to vent. Dorsal inserted a little in advance of front of anal, its ^ jl 
anterior rays not half so long as the head ; 20 scales in front of dorsal j 
and 0 between dorsal and lateral line. Gill rakers long and slender. * 
Head 4; depth 54. D. 13; A. 13. Lat. 1. 42; Vert. 2,1 + 19. In most 
warm seas, not rare on our Atlantic coast, where it spawns in summer. 
{Exocwtun erolana L. Sj'st. Nat. i, 521 : Exococtnx evolans Giiiitlicr, vi, 282: Exoccctua ; 
ei'olana Liitken, Vidcnsk. Medclel. Naturb. Foreu. 1870, 102; 'Weinlaud, 1. c.) 
El. oUjltisaa’oslHs (Giiutber) J. & G. 
Very similar to IL evolans, but with the dorsal fin inserted above or 
beliind the lirst ray of the anal ; the distance from the snout to the first , 
ray of the veiitrals less than the distance between the root of the ven- ! 
tral.'i and last ray of the dorsal ; 7 to 8 rows of scales above the lateral | 
line; lins more distinctly marked. D. 13; A. 13. Lat. 1. 40. {LiitJeen.) 
Tropical smis, north to Louisiana. 
(Exocwlua obtiiairoalria Giliitlier, vi, 283: Exoccctua oVtuairoatria Liitken, Vidensk. 
Meddcl. Naturb. Foreu. 1870, 102.) 
185 EXOCiiKTUS Liunaeiis. 
Flying fishes. 
(Artedi; Linnaius, Syst. Nat.: tyjie Exoccctua voliiana L.) 
Body elongate, broad above, somewhat compressed. Head short, 
blunt, narrowed below. Mouth small. Jaws very short, about eipial. 
Chiu without barbel. Maxillaries not joined to the iiremaxillaries. 
Teeth very feeble or wanting. Eyes large. Gill-rakers moderate. 
Scales large, deciduous. No finlets. Dorsal liu short, opposite anal. 
Caudal widely forked, the lower lobe the longer. Pectoral tins very 
long, reaching past the beginning of the anal, and serving as organs of 
flight, their great size enabling these fishes to sustain themselves in the 
air for some time.* Ventral fins large, posteriorly imserted, also used 
as organs of flight. Air-bladder very large. No pyloric coeca. Species 
numerous in all warm seas, {i^ioxoiza^, sleeping out; the ancient name 
of these fishes, which were supposed to come out on the beach to sleep 
at night ) 
* These fishes are enabled to sustain themselves in the air for upwards of a minute. 
Their movements arc exceedingly rapid. Their impulse, apparently, comes mainly, 
fiom the strong tail, which has a sculling motion in the water, by which they acquire 
a great v’clocity. When they first emerge from the water, the pectorals are si)read and 
vibrate rapidly, like the wings of an insect, and the vcntrals are closed. The motion 
of the pectoral is simultaneous with the motioii of the tail, and is probably caused by 
the latter. AVhen they reach a horizontal position in the air, the pectorals and ven- 
trals are spread, and apparently used only to retain the impulse pi'eviously received. 
