266 C0NTRI13UTI0NS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



ing nearly to middle of eye. Mandible little projecting, the tip iucliided. 

 Gill-rakers longer than eye, very slender and numerous, close set. Op- 

 ercles, top of bead, and scapular region with conspicuous branching 

 tubes and striae. Insertion of dorsal considerably nearer snout than 

 base of caudal. Pectorals and ventrals with sheathing scales. Head 

 4; depth 5. D. 15; A. 17; Lat. 1. 53 ; scutes 18+14. L. 12 inches. 

 Pacific coast of North and South America ; very abundant, spawning 

 in the sea. Resembles the European Sardine [C. pilchardus), but has 

 no teeth, and the belly less strongly serrate. 



( Jeuyns, Zool. Beagle, Fisli. 134 : Mcletta coerulea Girard, U. S. Pac. R. R. Surv. x, 

 330 : Alosa musica Grd. U. S. Nav. Astron. Exped. Zool. 24G : Alausa caJifornica Gill, 

 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Pliila. 1862, 281: Guutlier, vii, 443.) 



aa. Ventral serratures strong. 



h. Jaws witli persistent teeth, at least on premaxillaries, and sometimes on sym- 

 physis of lower jaw. 



442. C. clirysoclsBoriS (Raf.) Jor. & Gilh.— Ohio Shad; Skipjadc. 

 Brilliant blue above; sides silvery, with golden reflections ; no dark 



spot behind opercle. Body elliptical, highest near the middle, much 

 compressed. Head rather slender and pointed, its upper profile 

 straight. Lower jaw strongly iH-ojecting, its tip entering the profile; 

 upper jaw emarginate. Premaxillary, and often tip of lower jaw, with 

 moderate-sized teeth. Maxillary large, reaching to opposite posterior 

 part of eye. Eye large, well covered by adipose eyelid. Fins moderate. 

 Caudal peduncle slender, the caudal widely forked. Gill-rakers com- 

 paratively few, short, stout, and coarse, about 23 below the angle of the 

 arch. Opercles with radiating and branching striae. Peritoneum pale. 

 Head o%; depth 3|. Eye shorter than snout, 4 J in head. D. 10; A. 18; 

 Lat. 1. 52; ventral scutes 20+ 13. L. 15 inches. Gulf of Mexico and 

 Mississippi Valley; abundant, and resident in all the larger streams, 

 and introduced through the canals into Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. 

 A handsome fish, not valued for food. 



(Pomolohus chriisochloris Raf. Ichth. Oh. 1820, 38.) 



h. Jaws without persistent teeth; a few teeth usually present on the tongue. (Aleletta 

 Val.) 



443. C. Elicdiocrls Mitchill. — Hiclcory Shad; Tailor Herring; Fall Herring. 



Bluish silvery; sides with rather faint longitudinal stripes. Head 

 comparatively long, the profile straight and not very steep, form more 

 elliptical than in the others and less heavy forwards. Lower jaw con- 

 siderably projecting; upper jaw emarginate. Opercles rather less 

 emarguiate below and behind than in C. vernalis. Fins low; dorsal 



