THE SHORE FISHES OF PERU 79 



Genus ELOPS Linnaeus, 1766 



Body rather elongate; vertebrae about 75; pseudobranchiae large; 

 branchiostegals about 30; mouth nearly horizontal and almost ter- 

 minal; lateral line straight, with simple tubes; scales small, forming a 

 sheath on base of dorsal and anal; dorsal fin rather high anteriorly, 

 the last ray not produced; anal similar to dorsal, but smaller, placed 

 far behind dorsal; ventrals inserted near vertical from origin of dorsal. 



ELOPS AFFINIS Regan 



Elops affinis Regan, 1909, p. 38, Mazatldn and Jalisco, Mexico (original descrip- 

 tion). — Meek and Hildebrand, 1923, p. 176, Panama Bay (compared with 

 E. saurus). — Hildebrand, 1943b, p. 90 (compared with E. saurus and E. 

 senegalensis) . 



Head 3.8 to 4.2; depth 5.3 to 5.7; D. 23 or 24; A. 15; P. 16; scales 

 13-104 to 114. 



Body rather elongate, moderately compressed; caudal peduncle 

 rather long, its depth 2.9 to 3.2 in head; head low, long, flat above; 

 snout rather broad, 4.1 to 4.4 in head; eye 4.3 to 4.8; mouth very large, 

 the maxillary reaching well beyond posterior rim of orbit, 1.65 to 1.75 

 in head; gill rakers at angle of arch exceeding half diameter of eye, 

 10 or 11 + 16 to 18; origin of dorsal at least an eye's diameter nearer 

 base of caudal than tip of snout, its outer margin deeply concave, 

 the longest rays reaching nearly or quite to tip of last ray if deflexed ; 

 caudal deeply forked, the lobes of about equal length; anal fin notably 

 smaller than the dorsal, its origin about equidistant from vertical of 

 origin of dorsal and base of caudal, its base 2.5 to 2.6 in head; ventral 

 inserted slightly in advance of dorsal, reaching about halfway to origin 

 of anal; pectoral similar in size and shape to ventral, reaching rather 

 less than halfway to ventral, 1.8 to 1.85 in head; axillary scale of 

 pectoral long, slender, 3.1 to 3.6 in head. 



Color of preserved specimens bluish gray to brown above, sides 

 bright silvery; dorsal, caudal, and sometimes the pectoral partly dusky; 

 other fins pale. 



The description is based on three specimens from Peru, respectively 

 315, 335, and 465 mm. long. The two smaller ones were taken at 

 Paita, Peru, by W. L. Schmitt, and the largest one was seined at Lobos 

 de Tierra Island, Peru, by the Mission. The specimens were com- 

 pared with one from Guayaquil, Ecuador, several from Panama 

 Bay, and one each from Guaymas, Lerdo, and Mazatlan, Mexico. 

 E. affinis seems to differ from E. saurus of the Atlantic only in having 

 more numerous gill rakers. 



Range. — Gulf of California to Peru, at least as far south as Lobos de 

 Tierra Island. 



