270 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY lY. 



the height of the dorsal less than the length of the maxillary; height oi' 

 anal less than half the length of the maxillary. Pectorals not reaching 

 to veiitrals. Dorsal inserted slightly behind ventrals, about midway 

 between snout and base of caudal. Scales moderate, strongly serrated, 

 arranged very irregularly. Operculum strongly striated or almost smooth 

 {xar. aurea). Gill-rakers much longer than eye. Bluish above; sides 

 silvery, with a strong brassy lustre ; fins usually yellowish ; a conspicuous 

 dark scapular blotch, behind which are often smaller spots. Head 3] ; 

 depth 3. D. 19; A. 20; Lat. 1. 60-80; ventral plates 20+12. L. 12-18 

 inches. New England to Brazil ; very abundant southward, spawning in 

 the sea. Held in no esteem as a food-tish, but very valuable for oil and 

 manure; the young canned as sardines. 



(Clupea tyrannus Latrobe, Traas. Amer. Phil. Soc. Phila. v, 77, 1802 : Clupea menhaden 

 Mitcbill, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y. i, 453,' 1814 : Clupea menhaden Giiuther, vii, 436: 

 Clupanodon aureus Agassiz, Spix. Pise. Bras. 52 (Brazilian var. anrea Goode): Clupea 

 aurea Giinther, vii, 437 : Alosa menhaden Storer, Hist. Fish. Mass. 337 ; Goode, Proc. U. S. 

 Nat. Mus. i, 5, 31, 1878; Goode, Rept. U. S. Fish Comm. for 1877, complete biography.) 



Family XXXVIII.— DOROSOMATIDiE. 



{The Gi~zard Shads.) • 



Body short and deep, strongly compressed, covered with thin, decid- 

 uous, cycloid scales. Belly compressed to an edge, which is armed with 

 bony serratures. Head naked, short, rather small. Mouth small, in- 

 ferior, oblique, overlapped by the blunt snout; no teeth. Maxillary 



• •• 

 narrow and short, with a single supplem ntal bone, not exteuding to 



opposite the middle of the eye, and forming but a small portion of the 

 lateral margin of the upper jaw. Mandible short and deep, its rami 

 enlarged at base. Premaxillary not protractile. Gill-rakers slender, 

 exceedingly numerous, not very long, similar on all the arches. Gill- 

 membranes not united, free from the isthmus. Pseudobranchice large. 

 An adipose eyelid. No lateral line. Dorsal fin about midway of the 

 body, usually behind ventrals. Pectorals and ventrals moderate, each 

 with an accessory scale. Anal very long and low. Caudal forked. No 

 adipose fin. Stomach short, muscular, like the gizzard of a fowl. Genera 

 2, species about 12. Mud-eating fishes of the coasts and rivers of warm 

 regions, of little value as food. 



(Clupeidce group Chatoiissina Giinther, vii, 40()-411.) 

 * Last ray of dorsal produced in a long filament Douosoma, 12G. 



