41. PAEALEPIDID^ SUDIS. 
277 
to the premaxillary. Teeth rather strong, pointed, in single series on 
the jaws and jjalatines; some of them on lower jaw and palatines some- 
times very long and fang-like, and most of them freely depressible. 
Opercnlar bones thin. Pseiidobranchim present. Gill-membranes sep- 
arate, free from the isthmus. Braucliiostegals about 7. Gill-rakers 
short, sharp, spine-like. Eye large. Lateral line present, its scales 
usnally enlarged. Dorsal tin short and small, behind the middle of the 
body, nearly or quite over the ventrals. Adi^jose tin present; anal fin 
low, rather long; caudal fin short, narrow, forked; pectorals rather 
small, placed low. Pyloric cceca none. No air-bladder. Phosphores- 
cent spots few or none. Fishes of the deep waters of the Atlantic and 
Pacific, resembling Sphyrccm in form and dentition. A single genus 
and about 5 species are now known. 
{Scopelidw, g oup Faralejndina Gunther, v, 418, 420.) 
129. — Rafinescpie. 
(Paralepis Eisso.) 
V 
(Eafinesque, Caratteri di Alcuni Nuovi Geiieri, etc. 1810, 60: type Siidis hyalina Eaf. of 
the Mediterraueau.) 
Characters of the genus included above. Two genera are usnally 
recognized, differing in the development of the canines of the lower jaw, 
a character which appears to be of minor importance. (Latin siulis, a 
stake, an ancient uam( 4 of Sphyrccna.) 
^Lower jaw 'with 3-5 very long fang-like teeth on each side. (Sudk.) 
460. S. vaiiisgfeBBS Jordan & Gilbert. 
Body very slender and elongate, compressed, the depth forming about 
one-sixteenth of the length. Head rather slender, anteriorly pointed 
and moderately depressed. Month large, horizontal, the gape extending 
more than half the length of the head. Margin of the upper jaw formed 
entirely by the very slender, nearly straight premaxillaries, Avhich are 
closely appressed to the long and slender maxillaries. Maxillaries ex- 
tending to below the eye, nearly as far as the mandibnlar joint. Tip of 
upper jaw eiuarginate; tip of lower jaw rather broad, turned up, and 
fitting in the notch of the upper jaw. Premaxillaries armed Avitli a 
series of small, sharp, subequal, close-set teeth, which are hooked back- 
ward ; a long, slender canine in front on each side. Lower jaw with 
about 10 sharp, slender teeth on each side, these teeth very unequal, 
some of them short, three or four very long and canine-like. Near the 
front is one fang-like tooth on each side, then a considerable interspace. 
