SPAROID FISHES OF AMERICA AND EUROPE. 425 



dd. Prefrontals witli llic posterior areas solid and somewhat tumid; ptery- 

 goids, Lyoid bone, and tongue toothless; dorsal spines 10; soft dorsal 



and anal sealeless Apsii-us, 5. 



aa. liiterorbital area flat, separated by a transverse line of demareation from the 

 occipital, by which the median as well as the lateral crests are limited ; 

 frontals wide in front; tongue and pterygoids toothless; soft rays of 

 dorsal 10 or 11. 

 c. Dorsal fin continuous; frontals not cavernous; supiaorbital margin 

 crenate; i)eriotic region much swollen outwards and with the bones 

 thin and polished; preorbital moderate; frontals behind, with funnel- 

 shaped Ibramina; soft dorsal and anal sealeless; last rays of dorsal 



and anal produced , . . . Aprk )N, 0. 



ee. Dorsal nearly or quite divided into two tins by a deep notch ; eyes very 

 large ; preorbital very narrow. 



/. Frontals not cavernous, simply normally perforate; supraorbital mar- 

 gins crenate; periotic region little convex and with the bones thick, 

 unpolished; prefrontals behind, with funnel-shaped foramina; body 

 comparatively elongate; head naked above and on snout; soft dorsal 

 and anal naked; peritoneum and lining of gill-cavity pale; caudal 

 deeply forked ; color crimson Etelis, 7. 



ff. Frontals cavernous (like those of Sciaiioids), with longitudinal, osse- 

 ous bars, leaving interspaces in front of transverse ridge and on eacli 

 side near the front; supraorbital margins smooth; prefrontals behind, 

 with simple foramina for olfactory nerves; body comparatively short 

 and deep; head scaly above and on jav.^s and snout; soft dorsal and 

 anal scaly at base; peritoneum and lining of gill-cavity black; caudal 

 Innate. Deep-water species, b]ackish-pur])le in color Veiulus, 8. 



Subfamily III.— XemchtiiyinvE. 



(Sporidtt', witli minute sobequal teeth on jaws and vomer; none on pala- 

 tines; and with the upper jaw moderately protractile.) 



Body com])ressed, covered with small, thin, ctenoid, silvery scales; top of head, 

 cheeks, opereles, part of preorbital and crown scaly; mouth small, oldique, with 

 small rcenrved teeth in jaws; preorbital narrow; a rhomboid i)ateh of small teeth 

 on vomer; few teeth or none on the tongue and palatines; gill-rakers long and slen- 

 der; dorsal tins nearly separate, the antei'ior of slender spines; the soft rays scaly. 

 Intestinal canal short; the pyloric cceca not examined. Skull not studied, the 

 crests conspicuous, the temporal running forward to join the supraoceipital. 



Shore fishes, the species few, confined to the eastern Pacific, Avhere three genera 

 ar(! known. They show many resemblances to the tStrnDuda, especially to the genus 

 h'liliHii. 



a. Dorsal rays, x or xi-i, 12 or 13, the spinous part of the tin at least half longer 

 than soft part; anal rays, iii, 10 or 11. 

 h. Dorsal tina entirely separated, interval between them four- fifths of eye; the 

 spinous dorsal half longer than soft; nostrils small, close together. 



Xenocys, 9. 

 hh. Dorsal iius connected at base, th<! spinous part about double length of soft 



pitrt Xknistius, 10. 



aa. Dorsal rays, xi-i, 18 or 19, the soft part longer than the spinous jtart; anal 

 rays about iii, 18 Xenichtuy.s, 11. 



