376 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY — IV. 



183.— HEMIRHAmPHUS Cuvier. 

 Half-hedks. 



(Cuvier, R^gne Anim. ii, 1817 : type Hemirhamphus commersoni Cuvier.) 



Body elongate, comj)ressed, the dorsal outline i)arallel with that 

 of the belly. Upper jaw short; lower jaw prolonged into a slender 

 beak, bordered with membrane; premaxillaries forming a triangular 

 plate, the teeth of which fit against the toothed portion of the man- 

 dible; maxillaries joined to premaxillaries. Teeth feeble, sometimes 

 tricuspid. Gill-rakers rather long. Head covered above with large, 

 shield-like scales. Scales large, deciduous. No fiulets; caudal fin 

 more or less forked, the lower lobe the longer; dorsal and anal similar, 

 not modified in the males. Oviparous. Air-bladder large. No pyloric 

 cceca. Young with the lower jaw short. Species numerous, in all warm 

 seas, going in large schools. Size comparatively small, (^/xf, half; 

 pdij.(l'u^j beak.) 



a. Pectoral fins sliort; ventrals moderate. (Hemirhamphus.) 



603. II. uaiafa,scsatus Ranzaui. 



Greenish, sides with a well-defined silvery band, narrower than the 

 eye, about as broad as a scale. Tip of lower jaw red. Lower jaw (from 

 end of upper jaw) 4^-5J in total length from its tip to base of caudal. 

 Head (without mandible) 4^ in length from tip of upper jaw. Pre- 

 maxillaries broader than long. Eye about equal to interorbital space, 

 f postorbital jiart of head. Ventrals nearly midway between eye and 

 base of caudal. Dorsal and anal scaly. Caudal moderately forked, the 

 middle rays being longer than the eye. Back not compressed. Head 

 (with lower jaw) 23-3; depth 7^. D. 14; A. 15; Lat. 1. 54. L. 12 

 inches. Cape Cod to Panama and Indian Ocean ; common on our 

 South Atlantic coast. 



(Ranzani, Nov. Comm. Acad. Sci. Inst. Bonon. 1842, v, 326, tab. 25; Giinther, vi, 

 262: Hemirhamphus richardi Cuv. et Val. xix, 26.) 



604. II. rosae Jordan & Gilbert. 



Green, with a silvery lateral band, rather broader than a scale. A 

 triple vertebral streak. Lower jaw dark reddish brown. Lower jaw 

 (from tip of upper) 4?? in length from its tip to base of caudal. Head 

 without mandible 3| in length from tip of upper jaw. Premaxillaries 

 about as broad as long. Eye less than interorbital space, about half 

 I)ostorbital part of head. Ventrals rather nearer tip of caudal than 

 eye, midway between base of caudal and gill-opening. Dorsal and anal 



