THE FISHES OF NEW JERSEY. 105 
Family DOROSOMATIDE. 
The Gizzard Shad. 
Body short, deep, strongly compressed. Head short, rather 
small. Snout blunt, overlapping small inferior oblique mouth. 
Eye with adipose eyelid. Teeth minute. Maxillary narrow, 
short, with single supplementary bone not extending to opposite 
middle of eye and forming but small portion of lateral margin of 
upper jaw. Premaxillaries not protractile. Mandible short and 
deep, rami enlarged at base. Gill-membranes not united, free 
from isthmus. Gill-rakers slender, exceedingly numerous, not 
very long, and similar on all arches. Pseudobranchie large. 
Branchiostegals about 6. Body covered with thin deciduous cy- 
cloid scales. Belly compressed to an edge which is armed with 
bony serratures. No lateral line. Vertebrae 49. Stomach short, 
muscular, like gizzard of a fowl. Dorsal fin about midway in 
body, usually behind ventrals. Anal very long, low. Caudal 
forked. Pectorals and ventrals moderate, each with an acces- 
sory scale. No adipose fin. 
Mud-eating fishes of the coasts and rivers of warm regions, of 
little value as food. One genus and species in our waters. * 
Genus Dorosoma Rafinesque. 
The Gizzard Shad. 
Dorosoma cepedianum (Le Sueur). 
PLATE 7. 
Gizzard Shad. Hickory Shad. Mud Shad. 
Head 3% ; depthi224 +. rv, 9, 1; Aoi, 20, 1; P. 3, 15; V. 1 
7; scales 55 in lateral series from gill-opening to base of caudal, 
several more on latter; about 31 series of scales before dorsal ; 
20 series of scales transversely between origin of dorsal and 
middle of belly; 8 series of scales vertically on caudal peduncle 
