410 COXTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICIITIIYOLOO Y IV. 
pui)il. Lover Jaw slightly shorter than upper. Teeth close-set, incisor- 
like, Y-«hape(l, the forks divergent; those in lower Jaw largest and most 
movable. Eye large, not longer than snout. Spinons dorsal moderate, 
insert(Hl over the vent, its origin midway between posterior angle of op- 
erele and base of caudal. Pectoral about as long as the head, reaching 
ventrals, the ventrals not to vent. Jlody stouter than in related species. 
Scales lirm, crenate. reritonenni dark. Head 5; depth 4^. D. Vl-I, 11; 
A. I, 22; Lat. 1. 5L L. a foot. Pacific coast of United States, with 
Atherinopsis callfornierms, and equally abundant. 
{Aiherino 2 >sis affinis Ayrtis, Proc. Cal. Acad. Nat. Sci. 18(30, 73.) 
Family LXVII — SPHYR^ENID^. 
{The Barracudas.) 
Body elongate, snbterete, covered with small cycloid scales. Head 
A’ery long, pointed, pike-like, scaly above and on sides. Month hori- 
zontal, large. Jaws elongate, the lower considerably i)rojecting ; upper 
jaw non-protractile, its border formed by the premaxillaries, behind 
which are the broad maxillaries. Large, sharp teeth of unequal size 
on both Jaws and on palatines; none on the vomer; usually a very 
strong tooth near the tip of the lower Jaw. Opercular bones without 
spines or serratnres. Gill-openings wide, the gill -membranes not united, 
free from the isthmus; gill-rakers very short or obsolete. Branchioste- 
gals 7 ; gills -t, a slit behind the fourth. Psnedobranchire well developed. 
Air-bladder large, bifur<*.ate anteriorly; many pyloric coeca. Lateral 
line well developed, straight. Pectoral fins short, jdaced in or below 
the line of the axis of the body; ventrals I, 5, abdominal, in advance 
of the michlle of the body ; first dorsal over ventrals, of 5 rather stout 
spines; second dorsal remote from first dorsal, similar to anal and opj^o- 
site to it; caudal fin forked. Vertebrm 24. A single genus of about 15 
species; voracious })ike-like fishes, inhabiting nearly all tenq)erate and 
tropical seas. 
{SjAnjrwnidw Giiutlier, ii, 334-341.) 
20a.— SPUVRiEIVA Bloch. 
Barracudas. 
(Artedi; Bloch, Ichtli. : Esox splmrcena GmA.) 
Characters of the genus included above. {(j<fupai'm^ the ancient name, 
‘‘hammer fish,” from (T<pdpd, a dart.) 
* Pectorals not reaching nearly to front of dorsal. 
