814 PROCEEDINGS OF THE XATIOXAL MUSEUM. vol. xxx. 



bifurcate; hypercoracoid with uiodian foramen; superior pharyngeal 

 bones 4. Pectoral actinosts divided; ^ of them normal, supportiiij;' 

 the pectoral tin, 1 lonj^itudinal, without rays, and 1 a plate on the 

 coracoid, supporting the pectoral tilaments. Stomach ccjecal, with a 

 fcjv pyloric appeiidages. Air 1 (ladder various, sometimes wanting-. 

 Vertebra? 10 + 14 = 24. Genera 4, GaleoldeH^ PoUstoneinus, Polyne- 

 /nns, and Pf^h/t/acti/lK-s; the species inhabiting sand}' shores of tropical 

 seas, and sometimes entering rivers. Most of them are valued as 

 food-iishes, their flesh resem])ling that of the Scisenidw. The relations 

 of this peculiar family appear to l^e with the Sciwnidji* on the one hand, 

 and with the Mugilida? on the other, but all these resemblances ma}' be 

 superficial. 



POLYDACTYLUS Lacepede. 



Trichidion Klein, Historia Pisciuni, MiH^^a;^., 1749, V, p. 28 {Pirarodhu Makc- 



<iRAVE=('(rgr/mcus), (non-binomial). 

 Polijnevius Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., 10th e<l., 1758, p. 317 (in part, 'juin'junrius; 



virtjinirns; pantdisniis). 

 Polyddctylns Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., 18;^2, VIII, p. 181, (phnnirri—ririjiiii- 



nis), (leaving Pohjnenms as the name of qnlnquurius). 

 Poli/nemns GuNxaER, Cat., 1860, II, p. 319 {paradissnis) . 

 Trichidion Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1861, p. 274 {pliiinieri=iir(ii7ucus). 



Anal fin not much longer than soft dorsal, of about 13 or 14 rays; 

 vomer with teeth; preoperculum serrate; free filaments of pectorals 

 mostly shorter than body. Teeth in villiform bands on both jaws, 

 vomer, palatines, and pterygoids. Preopercle sharply serrated on its 

 posterior margin, its angle with a scaly flap. Scales rather small, 

 finely ctenoid. First dorsal with 7 or S feeble, rather high spines, the 

 first and last short. Soft dorsal and anal fins about equaling each other; 

 pectoral filaments 8 to 9. Pyloric cceca in great number. Species 

 numerous in warm seas, one of them reaching the shores of Japan. 



(;roA?>g, many; SaKTiAoi;^ finger.) 



POLYDACTYLUS AGONASI Jordan and McGregor, new species. 



AGONASHI (WITHOUT .TAAV); TSUBAMK-KONOSHIRO (SWALLOW-TAIL 



SHAD)." 



Pobinemns ])leheius Schlegel, Fanna Japonica, 1845, p. 29, pi. xi, fig. 1; Naga- 

 saki; {not Polyncmns plebejus oi Broussonet, a species from Tahiti=/W//»u'- 

 mits llnealus GiJNTHER; not Poh/ncmus plebejus GIjnther, Cat., II, p. 329= 

 Poli/nemus zophomus Jordan and McGregor, new name, an Indian species 

 with larger scales and a black humeral spot. — Namive, Class. Cat., 1881, 

 p. 94; Tokyo. — Ishikawa, Prel. Cat., 1894, p. 45; Tokyo; Kagoshima. 



PobidadijlHs plebeius Jordan and Snyder, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mn?., XXIII, 1900, 

 pp. 358, 752; Tokyo, Yokohama. — Jordan and Snyder, Check List, 1901, 

 p. 85; Yokohama. 



Head, 3^ in length to base of caudal; depth, 3^. 



«Tsubaine — a swallow; konoshiro — a gizzard shad {Konosirus punctaius). 



