262 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 
Maxillary broad, extending beyond the eye. Villiforin teeth on jaws, 
v’onier, palatines, tongue, sphenoid, and pterygoid bones. Scales large, 
lirni. Lateral line nearly straight, its tubes radiating widely in eacli of 
its scales. Dorsal tin short and high, over or behind ventrals; last ray 
of dorsal elongate, filamentous, as in Ihrosoma and Opisthonema. Anal 
fin long, falcate, its last ray produced, its base much longer than that 
of the dorsal. Caudal fin widely forked. Pectorals and ventrals rather 
long. Gill-rakers long. Anal fin with a sheath of scales; dorsal fin 
naked ; caudal fin largely scaly ; nape with a collar of large scales. 
Pseudobranchia3 none. Species of very large size, largest of the Cliipeoid 
fishes, found in all warm seas. {'jAyaXoil’^ large-eyed.) 
* Origin of dorsal beliind tlie ventrals. 
436. ]TI. tlirissoaeles (Blocli & Sclineider) Giintlier. — Tarpum; Jew-Jish. 
Uniform brilliant silvery, back darker. Body elongate, compressed, 
little elevated. Ilead 4 in length; depth 34. D. 12; A. 20; Lat. 1. 42; 
B. 23. Dorsal filament longer than head. Atlantic Ocean, entering 
fresh water; common on our southern coasts, and noted for the great 
size of its scales, which are used in ornamental worlc. 
(Clnpea thrissoides Bloch &. Schneider, 1801, 424; Ghnther, vii, 472.) 
Family XXXVII —CLUPEID^. 
[The Herrings.) 
Body oblong or elongate, more or less compres.sed, covered with cycloid 
or pectinated scales. Head naked, usually compressed. Mouth rather 
large, terminal, the jaws about equal. Maxillaries forming the lateral 
margins of the upper jaw, each composed of about three i^ieces. Pre- 
maxillaries not protractile. Teeth mostly feeble or wanting, variously 
arranged. Gill-rakers long and slender. Gill-membranes not con- 
nected, free from the isthmus. INo gular plate. Gills 4, a slit behind the 
fourth. Branchiostegals usually rather few (G-15). Posterior lower 
part of opercular region usually with an angular emargiuation, the tips 
of the larger branchiostegals being abruptly truncate. PseudobranchiiB 
present. l?lo lateral line (at least in onr species). Dorsal fin median or 
somewhat iiosterior. l^o adipose fin. Ventrals moderate or small (want- 
ing in Pristigaster). Anal usually rather long. jCandal fin forked. Belly 
sometimes rounded, sometinies comiiressed and armed with bony ser- 
ratures. Genera 15; species 130; inhabiting all seas, and usually swim- 
ming in immense schools. Many siiecies ascend fresh waters, and some 
