162 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



trals inserted only slightly in front of dorsal and much nearer to base of caudal 

 than to branchial opening, the air-bladder divided by many partitions, and the 

 caudal more deeply forked. One Cuban species and the following, which has 

 been described under many names. {Hemirhamphus, half-beak.) 



139. HEMIRHAMPHUS BRASILIENSIS (Linnaeus). 

 Half-beak; Balao. 



Esox brasiliensis Linnaeus, Systema Natur®, ed. x, 1758, 314; Jamaica. 

 Hemirhamphus brasiliensis, Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 722, pi. cxvii, fig. 313. 



Diagnosis. — Depth contained 6.75 in length (excluding lower jaw); head with lower jaw 

 contained 2.66 in total length, head without lower jaw 5 times in length; lower jaw (from tip of 

 upper jaw) nearly half longer than head and contained 4.5 times in total length; upper jaw 

 broader than long; eye large, .25 length of head (without lower jaw) and more than half length 

 of postorbital part of head; scales in lateral series about 53; dorsal rays 14, the longest less than 

 twice diameter of eye, the posterior rays somewhat produced; anal fin beginning about under 

 middle of dorsal, the rays 12, the posterior rays produced; caudal deeply forked, the lower lobe 

 much longer than upper; ventrals very small, inserted in advance of dorsal about length of 

 longest dorsal ray; length of pectorals about equal to depth of body. Color: above rich bluish 

 green, sides silvery, no lateral stripe; bill blackish with a scarlet or orange tip, the membrane 

 white-edged; dorsal lobe and upper caudal lobe orange yellow; ventrals yellow-edged, (brasili- 

 ensis, inhabiting Brazil.) 



Fig. 64. Half-beak. Hemirhamphus brasiliensis. 



On the coast north of Florida this fish is a straggler and heretofore has 

 been recorded only from Chesapeake Bay and Woods Hole, Mass. A specimen 

 one foot long was taken in Beaufort Harbor in July, 1899, and is included in 

 the laboratory record on the authority of Prof. H. V. Wilson. Another, about 

 10 inches long, was taken in the harbor on June 9, 1904, by Mr. Barton A. Bean, 

 of the U. S. National Museum. This species is abundant from Florida to Brazil, 

 reaches a length of 15 inches, and is said to be a good food fish. 



Family SCOMBRESOCID^. The Sauries. 



Pelagic fishes of temperate regions, having a strong superficial resemblance 

 to the mackerels (Scombridffi) in shape, color, and habits. The elongate body is 

 compressed; one or both jaws are prolonged to form a very weak, slender beak, 

 with feeble teeth; the maxillary and premaxillary are strongly united; the 

 numerous gill-rakers are long and slender; the scales are small, thin, and decid- 

 uous; the fins are small, the dorsal and anal being similar, and posterior to each 

 is a series of finlets as in the mackerels. Several genera, of which only one is 

 found in the Atlantic. 



