246 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.39. 



description Linnseus took the name Scise-na umbra, is the young of 

 Corvina nigra. 



The subsequent substitution of Scisena for Vmbrina by Bleeker is 

 not warranted by the rules of the International Zoological Congress. 



We follow Jordan and Evermann," in excluding from Scisena the 

 groups called Scisenops and Opliioscion, both having bony serratures 

 on the preopercle, a distinction probably of small importance. 



If we adopt Bleeker's arrangement and separate from Scisena those 

 species with enlarged teeth in the lower jaw, all the Japiinese species 

 of this group will stand in Argyrosomus {= Pseudoscisena of Bleeker). 



(scisena, oKca'cva, the old name, equivalent to umbra, from oKia, 

 shade.) 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



a^. NiBEA. Preopercle with a few slender sharp spinules; gill rakers relatively nu- 

 merous and slender; body not greatly elongp^te (mouth oblique, lower jaw 

 included), & soft dorsal naked. 

 b^. Body with distinct dark stripes along rows of scales; scales in lateral line 

 about 50; second anal spine very strong, and its length at least twice the 

 longitudinal diameter of eye. 

 c^ Dorsal rays X — I, 28; dark oblique streaks along rows of scales continuous, 

 not interrupted above lateral line; gill rakers 7 + 13 (besides rudiments); 

 second anal spine usually 2i to 3 in head. (Type, however, said to be 2J.) 



mitsuhuni, 2. 



c^. Dorsal rays X — I, 31; dark oblique stripes along rows of scales not continuous, 



interrupted above lateral line; gill rakers 6+10 (besides rudiments); second 



anal spine larger and stronger than in S. mitsukurii, 2J in head, albijlora, 3. 



6^. Body without dark streaks along rows of scales; scales in lateral line 56; 



second anal spine weak, its length \\ times diameter of eye; dorsal rays X — I, 



28; gill rakers unknown argentata, 4. 



a^. Argyrosomus. Preopercle without bony serrse; gill rakers rather few and short; 

 mouth large, oblique; body elongate or not, soft dorsal naked. 

 6^ Body rather short, depth 3^ in its length; dorsal rays X — I, 26; second anal 

 spine equal to diameter of eye; peritoneum light colored, not dark, as in *§. 



nihe; teeth moderate in size schlegeli, 5. 



6-. Body rather elongate, depth 3j in its length; dorsal X— I, 29; second anal 

 spine contained 1\ times in eye; peritoneum very dark or black; teeth large, 



almost canine-like in outer row of upper jaw nihe, 6. 



6^. Body extremely elongate; dorsal rays X — II, 26, length 3 or 4 feet. A doubtful 



species, known only from a very incorrect figure . . japonica, 7. 



a^. Othonias. Soft dorsal scaly, otherwise as in «-' (extra limital). . .manchurica, 5b. 



2. SCIiENA MITSUKURII (Jordan and Snyder). 

 NIBE; KUCHI. 



Corvina cuja Temminck and Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Poissons, 1843, p. 58; 



Nagasaki (not Bola cuja Hamilton, a species from India). 

 Pseudotoliihus mitsuhurii Jordan and Snyder, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 23; 



1901, p. 356, pi. 13; Tokyo. — Jordan and Snyder, Check List, Ann. Zool. 



Jap., vol. 3, 1901, p. 81; Yokohama. 



Habitat. — East coast of Japan. 



a Fish. North and Middle America, p. 1454, 1898. 



& In the closely related subgenus, Pseudotoliihus, the lower jaw is projecting and 

 the body is greatly elongate. 



