niilCATKK STII.-SMELT. 



915 



tlie\' cxiiaiiil ill a dDWiiward diriH'lioii so lircatK' that 

 their lircadth is aliout 2S % of tlicir Iciiylli, which 

 iiicasiircs about 20 — 2o % of that of the head or 28 — 

 29 "o "o of tiiat of the head reduced. The lcii<i;tii of 

 the lower jaw is about S' 3— 8^/,, % of that of tin- liody, 

 ;',2-;;4 ",. of that of the head, or 11—18 "„ of tiial of 

 the head reduced. The deiitilioii of tlie mouth we 

 ii.i\e ah'eady described. The nio.st striking characteri.stie 

 is that, at tlie extreme front of the |)alate, the liead of 

 die xouii'r and the anterim- extremities of the [lalatine 

 hones, which touch tlie head of the vomer on each 

 .side, foi-ni an arch furnished A\itli a row of small, bent, 

 subulate teelli of uuiforu! size. This arch h.as the aji- 

 [learanci' of .-in inner upiier jaw, coiii|ii'nsating' the lack 

 (if teeth on tiie uji[ier jaw [U'oper. In old specimens 

 these teeth are more scattered, l)ut longer and more 

 villiform. i'lie teeth on the tongue also seem to become 

 more si'.-itlered \\ith age: in the semi-elli|itical row we 

 have counted 10, 8, and (>. There is no [lalatal fold 

 ill the u>iial ]ilaee, just behind the jaws: lint behind 

 tlie head of the vomer and the incurved ends of the 

 ]ialatine hones the skin of the palate .lies in a pad-like 

 transverse fold. The gill-rakers are set in one row, 

 and resemble pointed, rather long, triangular disks, 

 which are destitute of the small spine.s that commonly 

 fringe them in the (iw\'niads. Tlie pharyngeals are 

 armed with se\'eral rows of subulate teeth. The ijseudo- 

 branchia' are large. The gill-openings are of consider- 

 able size, each extending froiu the occiput on a level 

 with the upper orbital margin and almost in a line 

 with the hind margin of the preoperculuni down to a 

 line with the centre of the eye. The two branchiostegal 

 membranes are free lioth from each other and the 

 isthmus. The branchiostegal ray.s are six in number, 

 the last five being sahre-shaped and gradually increas- 

 ing l.iack wards both in length and breadth, the lirst 

 narrow and styliforni, but curved like the others. 



The dorsal tin is trapezoidal, hut its upper posterior 

 margin is more or less convex. The first two ravs are 

 simple: the first branched rav is the longest, being 

 twice as long as the iirst simple rav, but only slightly 

 longer than the second. The fin begins at a distance 

 from the tip of the snout measuring about 41 or 42 % 

 of the length of the body, and the length of the head 

 is about (iO or til % of the said distance. Its base is 

 less in our specimens tlian 8 % (about 7^/., %) of the 

 length of the body, or about 30 — 32 % of the length 

 of the head- Among the preceding members of the 



.^alniouoid familv the Smelts alone have so short a 

 dorsal tin. The greatest height of the tin is about 

 twice the length of its liase. The anal fin is also tra- 

 pezoidal, but lower and at least somewhat longer than 

 the dorsal. \\ its anterior margin tliere lie three or 

 tour simple (undi\ide(l ) ra\s, the hrst quite short, about 

 half as long as tiie second, the others gradnallv in- 

 creasing in length to the hindmost, which is about etjual 

 in length to the first branched (longest) rav, or in other 

 words to tin; base of the dorsal lin. The tlistance be- 

 tween the beginning of the anal hn and the tip of the 

 snout is about 78 "u of the length of the body, and 

 the length of its base is about '''3 (33 — 31 ?^) of that 

 of the head. The adijjose fin, which resembles that of 

 the Salmons, lies abo\e the 4tli — tjth or .")th — 7th 

 branched rav in the anal. The caudal is deeplv forked, 

 the length of its middle rays being only about V'3 of 

 that of the longest ones, or about 4 % of that of the 

 body. 



The pectoral hiis resemble in shape and position 

 those of the (Jwyniads. Their length is about 14 — 1.3 

 % of that of the body. The 'first (simjjle) ray does not 

 reach (juite to their tip: the second or third branched 

 ray is the longest. The blunt ventrals also remind us 

 of the Gwj'niiids, ]>ut are distinguished by their nu- 

 merous rays — a characteristic generally belonging to 

 the lower (earlier) grades of differentiation among the 

 Teleosts — and by the covering lobe, formed by large 

 scales on the ventral side in front of their base, under 

 which they may be concealed to a great extent. Their 

 length is aliout ' ,„ — ' ,, of that of the liodv, or '_, 

 (78 — 74 ?») of that of the ijectorals. They are set half- 

 way along the Ijodv (at a distance from the tip of the 

 snout measuring about 49 — 51 % of the length of the 

 body), exactly below the termination of the dorsal tin 

 or a little farther liaek. The |)reabdominal length is 

 less than in most other Salmonoids (24 — 26 % of the 

 length of the body), but the postabdorainal length is 

 greater (29 — 27 % of the same). 



The shape and texture of the scales, wliit-h are 

 rather thick but flexible, vary according to their situa- 

 tion. They are densely imbricated, and inserted so far 

 into the follicles that most often only ' , of their sur- 

 face is uncovered bv the next scale in front. Their 

 exposed part is closely .set with small spines, pointing 

 in a backward dii'ection. which render the body as 

 rough to the touch as in many Sharks. On the other 

 hand, this part of the scale is without concentric strias. 



