Order ix. Synentognathi. 



Lower pharyngeal bones fully united; ventral fins abdominal, 

 without spine; no mesacorocoid ; lateral line concurrent with the 

 belly, peculiar in structure; air bladder without duct in the adult; 

 vertebras numerous, the abdominal ones much more numerous than 

 the caudal. 



Family XII. Beloiiicla*. 



The Needle Fishes. 



Body elongate, very slender, little compressed, covered with 

 small thin scales; both jaws produced in a beak, the lower the longer, 

 very much so in the young; each jaw with a band of small sharp 

 teeth ; no finlets ; dorsal and anal fins opposite each other ; air bladder 

 present; pectoral fins on axis of body; vertebras numerous. 



This family comprises a group of voracious carnivorous fishes 

 which bear considerable resemblance in form to the Garpikes. They 

 are found in all warm seas, a few species entering fresh water. 



<>4. Tylosurus Cocco. 



Tylosurus Cocco, "Lettere in Giornale Sci. Sicilia, xvn," 18, 1829. 

 (Type, Tylosurus cantrainii Cocco.) 



Body elongate, very slender, not much compressed; both jaws 

 prolonged into a beak; each jaw armed with a band of small, sharp 

 teeth, besides which is a series of longer, wide-set, sharp, conical, 

 unequal teeth; no teeth on vomer or palatines; lateral line running 

 along the side of the belly, becoming median on caudal peduncle; 

 ventral fins small, inserted behind the middle of the body; caudal 

 fin lunate or forked. 



Species numerous, chiefly American, the following one entering 

 the eastern rivers of Mexico south of Vera Cruz. 



151. Tylosurus marinus (Walbaum). Gar Fish; Needle Fish. 

 Esox marinus Walbaum, Artedi Piscium, 111, 88, 1792 (after the 



Sea Snipe of Schopf ) ; Long Island. 

 Belone truncata Gtinther, Cat., vi, 244, 1866. 

 Tylosurus marinus Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., 1896, 714. 

 r Very abundant on our Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to Yucatan; 

 often ascend'ng rivers far above tide water. (San Francisco; Perez.) 



160 



