418 



MITGILID-E. 



The snout is not veiy broad and moderately depressed, with the 

 lower profile ascending in the same curve in which the upper one 

 descends. The interorbital space is slightly convex, its width being 

 twice and a half in the length of the head. Eye with an adipose 

 membrane. The nostrils are at some distance from each other, the 

 postcnor being in the middle between the anterior and the orbit. 

 Lips thin ; a narrow strip of the maxillaiy is not covered by the 

 piieorbital. The space at the chin, between the mandibularies, is 

 rather bi'oad and short, obtusely rounded anteriorly ; the angle made 

 by the anterior margins of the mandibles is obtuse. The length of 

 the two anterior dorsal spines is somewhat more than one-half the 

 length of the head. There are twenty-four scales between the snout 

 and the spinous dorsal ; the ninth, the twelfth, and the twenty-fifth 

 scales of the lateral line correspond to the exti'emity of the pectoral 

 fin and to the origin of the two dorsals. The root of the pectoral is 

 on the middle of the depth of the body, and that of the ventral rather 

 nearer to the origin of the dorsal than to the base of the pectoral. 

 Dark stripes along the sei'ies of scales. 

 Atlantic coasts of the United States. 



a. Half- grown : has been in chloride of zinc. 

 Purchased of Mr. Wai-wick. 



North America. 



3. Mugil constantiae. 



Cuv. ^- Vol. xi. p. 107 ; Smith, III. Zool. South Africa, Fishes, pi. 28, 

 fig. 1. 



D. 4 I _L. A. -|. L. lat. 40. L. transv. 15. 



The height of the body is one-fourth of the total length, the 

 length of the head one-fifth. The head is veiy slightly convex 

 superiorly, and the width of the inter- 

 orbital space is not quite one-half 

 the length of the head. The upper lip 

 is not thick. The angle made by the 

 two mandibulary bones is a right one. 

 The cleft of the mouth is half as deep 

 as it is broad ; the maxillary is entirely 

 hidden below the praeorbital. Eyes 

 with an adipose membrane; nostrils 

 rather distant from each other, the pos- 

 terior being in the middle between the 

 anterior and the orbit. The space at the 

 chin between the mandibles is broadly 

 lanceolate. Vertical fins not scaly. The 

 first two dorsal spines are longer than 

 one-half of the head. The ninth, the 

 eleventh or twelfth, the twenty-thii-d or twenty-fourth scales of the 

 lateral Kne correspond to the extremity of the pectoral and to the 

 origin of the two dorsal fins. The root of the pectoral is above the 

 middle of the body, and the ventral is inserted nearer to the vertical 



M . constantire. 



