PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 339 



1. Clupea stolifera, sp. nov. (28125.) 



Allied to Clupea Ule, C. & V. 



Body deep, mncli compressed; the dorsal outline with a slight curve; 

 ventral outline more strongly arched ; body deepest immediately before 

 dorsal fin. Head short, preopercnlar margin subvertical ; opercle but 

 little oblique, evenly curved. Mouth very small, oblique; maxillary 

 reaching to below front of pupil; lower jaw longer than the upper, which 

 is scarcely emargiuate; tip of lower jaw not reaching level of upper 

 profile of snout. Both jaws with a few very small, weak, deciduous teeth ; 

 none on vomer or palatines; tongue with a very distinct linear patch. 

 Gill-rakers slender and numerous, the longest about three-fifths diameter 

 of orbit ; about 29 on anterior limb of arch. Eye large, longer than 

 snout and more than one-third length of head. 



Dorsal fin inserted anteriorly, its origin nearer end of snout than base 

 of caudal, by a distance equalling one-half length of head; the first long 

 rays are much longer than base of fin, which is about three-fifths length of 

 head. Anal fin short and low ; distance of its origin from base of caudal 

 equals height of body. Caudal scarcely longer than head, the lower 

 lobe longer than the upper. Pectorals reaching two-thirds distance to 

 root of ventrals, 1^ in head. Yentrals inserted nearly under first dorsal 

 ray, their length If in head. 



Scales smooth, firm, closely adherent, their edges entire ; a very narrow 

 sheath of scales along bases of dorsal and anal fins ; caudal fin scaled 

 for one-half its length. Ventral scutes very strongly developed, run- 

 ning from thorax to front of anal, the posterior with strong s^jines; 17 

 in front of ventral fins, 12 behind them. 



Head, 4i| in length to base of caudal ; depth, 3J. D. 14 ; A. 10 ; L. 

 lat. 40 ; L. transv. 11. 



Color translucent ; sides with silvery luster ; each scale on back with 

 marginal half black-punctate ; a dark line along median line of back, 

 becoming distinctly blackish on tail; snout greenish above, its tip and 

 the end of the lower jaw dusky; a very bright, well-defined, silvery 

 band along sides (as in Atherina and Stolejyhorus), margined above with 

 a narrow bluish line; this band is constantly widest at middle of body, 

 tapering slightly towards head and caudal jjeduncle, abruptly expand- 

 ing at the end of the latter and covering nearly the entire breadth of 

 the end of the tail. The width of this band is just the depth of one 

 scale, a little more than the depth of the pupil. Dorsal and caudal fins 

 light yellowish-green, the tips of anterior rays of dorsal and of uj^per 

 and lower caudal lobes usually jet-black. The base of each anal ray 

 marked by black dots. Paired fins immaculate. 



Many specimens of this beautiful, well-marked species were obtained 

 at Mazatlan, where it is very common. It does not reach a greater length 

 than 5 or G inches, and usually escapes through the coarse meshes of 

 the fishermen's seines. 



The numerous types of C stolifera are numbered 28125 on the reg- 

 ister of the National Museum. 



