398 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



Poey is a synonym of Sardinella and that Clupanodon has no American representative. 

 As the last ray of the dorsal in Clupanodon is prolonged, its relationship is with Opistho- 

 nema, Dorosoma, and Signalosa (here a synonym of Dorosoma) rather than with Sardine/la. 

 In his discussion, Hubbs (61 : 261—265) set up a new genus, Sardinops, for the sardines 

 of the Pacific and South Africa. This genus differs from Sardinella principally in the 

 absence of the fleshy lobes on the cleithrum, in the presence of oblique ridges on the 

 opercle, and in the overlapping gill rakers, those on the upper arch extending down- 

 ward over those on the lower limb. 



Species. The species of this genus remain somewhat obscure. Among the three 

 recognized as coming within the scope of this work, pinnula is definitely distinct accord- 

 ing to the specimens at hand; however, specimens from Cuba and Jamaica, not in good 

 condition, seem to be more or less intermediate between anchovia from the Atlantic 

 coast of the United States and brasiliensis from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and southward. 

 Such specimens also are included among collections from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. More 

 material and further study will be required to determine the exact relationship. 



The number of gill rakers on the first arch seems to be the best diagnostic charac- 

 ter, but the rakers are so numerous, fine, and close-set that they are exceedingly difficult 

 to count accurately.*' Consequently, the use of this character requires much time and 

 patience. Its ready use is limited further by the increase in number with age and growth, 

 making it necessary to compare the number present in specimens of nearly equal size. 



Other characters having limited diagnostic value are depth of body, size of head, 

 eye, and mouth, development of the palatine and pterygoid teeth, the position of dorsal 

 and pelvic fins, and length of pectoral fin. The color, so far as can be determined from 

 the preserved specimens at hand, is rather uniform among the species recognized. The 

 species are carnivorous, occur in schools, and are marine in habitat. 



Range. Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to southern Brazil, but not yet known from 

 Mexico to Colombia. They occur also off Bermuda, Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad, in the 

 eastern Atlantic, and in the Indo-Pacific {106: 377). 



Key to Species of the Western Atlantic 



I a. Distance from margin of snout to origin of dorsal about equal to 33 */o of TL, 

 41—43.5 "/o of SL; eye equal to, or usually shorter than, snout, its diameter 5.3— 

 7.3 */(, of SL; snout 6.0—7.6; gill rakers about 70—100 on lower limb of first 

 arch (fewer in young); pectoral fin failing to reach base of pelvic by a distance 

 nearly or quite equal to length of snout and eye. 



47. It was found necessary to remove the gill rakers from the arch to make an accurate count. The arch was severed from 

 the body near the base of the rakers, the membrane was freed from the bony arch at one end, the loosened end was 

 grasped with forceps, and a gentle pull then freed the membrane with the rakers intact. In a watch glass under low 

 power of a binocular, the rakers could be separated by ones, twos, or threes, an accurate count thus being obtained. 

 The counts made previously either with the arch in its natural position or after removal from the body ran much too 

 high, the error being greatest among those with the highest number of rakers. 



