OOMP.\E.\.TIVE STUDY OF SCOMBROtD FISHES. 405 



nearly straight, boundary of tlie rectum indistinct. Pylorus descending with a 

 few longitudinal folds inside, and rather narrow. 



Liver consists of throe slender lolies, of which the two lateral loljes are 

 very lung and ncjixly equiil in length, while the middle one is short. 



Myotomes arc strongly folded, so that in the cross-section of the lateral 

 muscle we count uearlj' as many rings as in the same of tunnies. The 

 median wedge-sLaped portion of the lateral muscle is reddish, and the i"ed 

 portion becomes thicker towards the tail. On the surface of the last myotome 

 we cannot find a tendon. 



Skeleton ixjrous and rather weak, and much resembling to the type of 

 the Cybiidae. Tlio vertebrae of the caudal peduncle are provided with lateral 

 keels, each of which is divided into two, anterior and posterior portions. Two 

 auxiliary intermuscular bones are found on the exoccipital, — one on the dorsal 

 wall of the foramen maguum, the other a httle forward. At the dorsal part 

 of the clavicle the anterior pointed process is widely separated fn)m the 

 posterior lamellar part. 



Grows to a length of about 80 cm and to a weight of 1.5-3.0 kg. 



Flesh is rather soft, and inferior in quality. Generally this s^Xicies is not 

 specialh- .sought after, excejit in Kyushyu, but is caught as an adjimct in 

 fisheries of the mackerel, l>ouitos, scuds, etc. It is said that in Kyushyu a 

 few pound-nets are sjÄcially built for the capture of this species. 



This sjKcies lives rather near the surface of the coastal waters, and some- 

 times makes large shoals. It bites eagerly on a bait, natiu'al or artificial, 

 hence it is easily caught with trolling lines. 



Found in the southern parts of our waters, both on the Pacific as well 

 as on the Japan Sea coast, especially abundant in Kyushyu. Manj- jears 

 ago, an immature example was caught in a di'ag-seiue on the Pacific coast of 

 Aomori-ken. The Hawaiian species of Sarda seems to be the same as the 

 Japanese species, but the Cahfurnian seems to belong to the Chilian si^ecies. 



Many authors have confoimded this s^jecies with an alUed species from the 

 Pacific coast of South America; but the difference Ijetween them is quite 

 evident. As Schlegel rightly remarked, the pectorals are snaaller in Sarda 

 Orientalis, and not only these fins but the other fins are also smaller. Moi-eover 

 the numl'cr of gill-rakers is 9+17 in Sarda chilensis, and the number of 



