FISHES — ATHERINIDAE — ATHERINOPSIS CALIFOENIENSIS. 103 



ATHERINOPSIS CALIFORNIENSIS, Grd. 



Calirornia "Smelt." 



Plate XXII c. 



Spec. Char. — Head small and siibquadrangularly pyramidal, constituting the sixth of the entire length. Base of anal fin 

 much longer than that of the second dorsal. Greyish brown above ; light brown or silvery beneath. Fins olivaceus, unicolor. 



Stn. — Mherinopsis cal'forniensis, Grd. in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. VH, 1854, 134, 141, & 151 ; &, in Journ. Bost. Soc. 



Nat. Hist. VI, 1857. Plate xxiv, figs. 1—4. 

 Mherina sloreri, Atbes, MS.— Grd. in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. VIII, 1856, 136. 

 The "Smelt" of the California settlers. 



We have had an opportunity of examining a great numher of specimens of this species, 

 measuring from five to seventeen inches in total length, the head constituting precisely the 

 sixth part of it. The body is very much compressed, rather slender in general appearance, and 

 gracelully subfusiform. The dorsal line is but slightly arched in the adult fish ; in the young 

 it is less so yet, passing gradually to the upper surface of the head without transition. The 

 same is true of the ventral outline: more convex in the adult than in the young. The back 

 anterior to the fins is generally rounded off. The greatest depth of the body, taken immediately 

 in advance of the origin of the ventral fins, is contained about seven times in the total length ; 

 the least depth, on the peduncle of the tail, is about the half of the greatest. 



The head is proportionally small, slightly convex above, and subquadrangularly pyramidal, 

 though the sides slope inwardly downwards, thus rendering the inferior plane much narrower 

 than the upper. The snout itself is subconical in its retracted condition. Protractile to a 

 certain degree, the mouth, which is of moderate size, preserves, nevertheless, its horizontal gape. 

 It is the only portion of the head, the preorbital region included, which is deprived of scales, 

 and hence perfectly smooth. The teeth are very exiguous, of the velvet-like type. The tongue 

 is narrow, anteriorly rounded, and perfectly smooth. The anterior nostril is situated midway 

 between the anterior rim of the orbit and the extremity of the snout. The eye is suhcircular 

 and of moderate size ; its horizontal diameter enters about four times and a half, or a little more, 

 in the length of the side of the head. The branchial fissures are continuous under the throat, 

 and prolonged towards the hyoid apparatus. The branchiostegal rays are five on either side 

 and quite slender. The inter-and subopercle are well developed. 



The origin of the anterior dorsal fin is equidistant between the ex'remity of the snout and 

 the fork of the caudal ; the fin itself is composed of seven sj^iny rays, the first of which being 

 the highest. The second dorsal is situated opposite the anal ; and since its base is a good deal 

 shorter than that of the latter, the posterior extremities and the anterior margins of these two 

 fins do not coincide with the same vertical lines. The rays are thirteen in number, diminishing 

 less abruptly in height than in the anterior dorsal, thus giving the upper margin of that fin a 

 more gradual slope. The caudal fin is deeply forked, and contained in the total length about 

 six times, the same as the head. The anal is as deep anteriorly as the second dorsal is high, 

 diminishing, however, very rapidly backwards. The origin of the ventrals is nearer the 

 terminus of the anal than the extremity of the snout ; they are composed of five well developed 



