104 TKLKOSTKI : ACAXTIIOPTERI. — XX. 



a. Ventral rays united into one; D. low TKTRAPrrnrs. 122. 



(Id. Viiitnil r.iy- •_' or •!; D. very lii^jli l.>iTloriioiii'8, I'JSl 



122. TETRAPTURU8 Kafiiu'siiui!. (t«t^-, four ; 7JT«/M)f, fip. ; 

 oiipa, tail.) 



260. T. albiduB Pot-y. Si'KAR-fish. BiM.-Fisn. lilue-bhuk ; 

 lu-ad (with swcnl) "if ; '«K'i)th 7^. D. Ill, 3'J-(!. A. II, 13-6. L. 8 

 fri-t. W. I.. X. In (ape Cod, (Lat., wliiti-.) 



123. ISTIOPHORUS Lacep6(le. (t^n'ov, sail ; 0o/hw, to bear.) 



2C1. I. americanuB Cuv. & Val. Sail-fish. Spikk-fisii. 

 Bluish-black ; dorsal very high, its niemhrane with round })lack 

 8|)ots. Sword, from I'vc, 2| tinu-s rest of head, nearly twice as 

 broad as deep. Head 'Jj ; dei)tli 6. D. XLl - 7. A. 'J-7. L. G to 

 8 feet. Warm seas, N. to Cape Cod. 



Family LIV. TRICHIURID^. (The Scabbaud-fishes.) 



Fishes closely related to the Scombrida;, but having the vertebrae 

 very ninneroiis, and the dorsal fin long and low, its spines and soft 

 rays indistinguishable from each other, and without fmlets. Ven- 

 tral fins rudimentary or wanting. Genera 6 ; species about 15, in 

 the warm seas. 



O. No caudal fin; tail taperinf; to a point; no ventrals; teeth veri' stronp, 

 uni-(|iiul, siiine of tlicin hiiilnjU Thkhiikl's, 124. 



124. TRICHIURUS I.innaius. (rpixiov, a little hair ; 

 oipd, tail.) 

 262. T. lepturuB L. SrAiinAnn-FLiii. CiTTLASS-Fisn. Sil- 

 ver Ekl. Silvery. D. dark-edged ; snout long ; lower jaw long»*r. 

 Head 7^; de|)th 16. I). 135. A. very low, 100. Warm sea, N. to 

 N. Y. (X*7rrdf, thin ; ovpd, tail.) 



Family LV. SCOMBRIDA. (The Mackerels. 



Body subfusiform or compressed, with small cycloid scales, those 

 at the shoulders sometinu's enlarged, forming a corselet ; lateral line 

 present. Head pointed; mouth large, not protractile; teeth sharp, 

 large or small ; opercles unarnu-d; gill openings very wide ; pseiido- 

 branchijo large. Dor.sils two, the first of slender spines, the second 

 usually followed liy detached finlets; tail slender, keeled, its fin 

 widely forked ; V. thoracic I, 5. Vertebnp in incrcaseil numlH-r, 30 

 to 70; pyloric cipca many. Coloration metallic, the se.xes similar. 

 Genera al>out 17 ; species alnjut 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 Hesh of some is very coarse. 



