262 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



Maxillary broad, exteudiug beyoud the eye. Villiform teeth on jaws, 

 vomer, palatines, tongue, sphenoid, and pterygoid bones. Scales large, 

 firm. Lateral line nearly straight, its tubes radiating widely in each of 

 its scales. Dorsal fin short and high, over or behind veutrals; last ray 

 of dorsal elongate, filamentous, as in Dorosoma 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. 

 Pseudobranchiaj none. Species of very large size, largest of the Clupeoid 

 fishes, found in all warm seas. [pAyaXocp^ large- eyed.) 



* Origin of dorsal beMnd the ventrals. 



436. M. tlu*issoi€les (Blocb & Sclineider) Giiuther. — Tmyum; Jew-fish. 



Uniform brilliant silvery, back darker. Body elongate, compressed, 

 little elevated. Head 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 work. 



{Chipea fhrissoides Bloch & Sclineider, 1801, 424; Giiuther, vii, 472.) 



Family XXXVII— CLUPEID^. 



[The Herrings.) 



Body oblong or elongate, more or less compressed, 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 pieces. Pre- 

 maxillaries not i)rotractile. Teeth mostly feeble or wanting, variously 

 arranged. Gill-rakers long and slender. Gill-metnbranes not con- 

 nected, free from the isthmus. No gular plate. Gills 4, a slit behind the 

 fourth. Branchiostegals usually rather few (6-15). Posterior lower 

 part of opercular region usually with an angular emargination, the tips 

 of the larger branchiostegals being abruptly truncate. Pseud obranchiiie 

 present, No lateral line (at least in our species). Dorsal fin median or 

 somewhat posterior. No adipose fin. Ventrals moderate or small (want- 

 ing in Pm//(/a.9/er). Anal usually rather long. jCaudal fin forked. Belly 

 sometimes rounded, sometiuies compressed and armed with bony ser- 

 ratures. Genera 15; species 130; inhabiting all seas, and usually swim- 

 ming in immense schools. Many species ascend fresh waters, and some 



