104 TELEOSTEI : ACANTHOPTERI, — XX. 
a. Ventral rays united into one; D.low. . . . . . TETRAPTURUS, 122. 
aa. Ventral rays 2 or 3; D.very high. . . . . . « IsTiIoPHORus, 123. 
122. TETRAPTURUS Rafinesque. (rérpa-, four; mrepdy, fin ; 
ovpa, tail.) 
260. T. albidus Poey. Sprar-FisH. Brivi-FisH. Blue-black; 
head (with sword) 22; depth 74. D. IIT, 39-6. A.II,13-6. L.8 
feet. W.1., N. to Cape Cod. (Lat., white.) 
123. ISTIOPHORUS Lacépéde. (ioriov, sail; dopéw, to bear.) 
261. I. americanus Cuv. & Val. Sart-Fisu. SPIKE-FISH. 
Bluish-black; dorsal very high, its membrane with round black 
spots. Sword, from eye, 22 times rest of head, nearly twice as 
broad asdeep. Head 22; depth6. D. XLI-7. A.9-7. L. 6 to 
8 feet. Warm seas, N. to Cape Cod. 
Famity LIV. TRICHIURIDAG. (THE ScABBarpD-FIsHES.) 
Fishes closely related to the Scombride, but having the vertebree 
very numerous, and the dorsal fin long and low, its spines and soft 
rays indistinguishable from each other, and without finlets. Ven- 
tral fins rudimentary or wanting. Genera 6; species about 15, in 
the warm seas. 
a. No caudal fin; tail tapering to a point; no ventrals; teeth very strong, 
unequal, some of them barbed.. . . . . . . ~. TRICHIURUS, 124. 
124. TRICHIURUS Linnezus. (rpiycov, a little hair ; 
oupad, tail.) 
262. T. lepturus L. ScABBARD-FISH. CUTLASS-FISH. SIL- 
VER EEL. Silvery, D. dark-edged; snout long; lower jaw longer. 
Head 74; depth 16. D.135. A. very low, 100. Warm sea, N. to 
N.Y. (Aezzés, thin ; odpa, tail.) 
Famity LV. SCOMBRIDAH. (THE MackeErELs. 
Body subfusiform or compressed, with small cycloid scales, those 
at the shoulders sometimes enlarged, forming a corselet; lateral line 
present. Head pointed; mouth large, not protractile; teeth sharp, 
large or small; opercles unarmed; gill openings very wide ; pseudo- 
branchiz large. Dorsals two, the first of slender spines, the second 
usually followed by detached finlets; tail slender, keeled, its fin 
widely forked; V. thoracic I, 5. Vertebrze in increased number, 30 
to 70; pyloric ceca many. Coloration metallic, the sexes similar. 
Genera about 17; species about 70. Fishes of the high seas, many 
of them cosmopolitan, coming to northern shores to spawn, and 
often irregular in their visits. Most of them are valued as food, 
but the red, oily flesh of some is very coarse. 
