HEKRINGS. 661 



ties near tlie coasts. It "rows to a leno'tli of from two to 

 three feet, and is not valued as food. 



Elops. — Body rather elongate, moderately compressed ; 

 abdomen flat. Scales small, adherent ; lateral line distinct. A 

 narrow osseous lamella, attached to the mandibulary symphysis, 

 covers the part between the mandibles. Snout pointed ; mouth 

 wide, anterior ; intermaxillary short, maxillary forming the lateral 

 part of the mouth. Bands of villiform teeth in the jaws, on the 

 vomer, palatine and pterygoid bones, on the tongue, and on the 

 base of the skull. Dorsal fin opposite to ventrals ; anal rather 

 shorter than dorsal. Gill-membranes entirely separate, with 

 very numerous branchiostegals. 



Two species, of which one, E. saurus, is, like the preced- 



r 



Fig. 301. — Elops saurus. 



ing fish, spread over all tropical and sub-tropical seas ; it 

 exceeds a length of three feet, and is not esteemed as food. 



MegALOPS. — Body oblong, compressed, abdomen flat. Scales 

 large, adherent ; lateral line distinct. A narrow osseous lamella, 

 attached to the mandibulary symphysis, between the mandibles. 

 Snout obtusely conical ; mouth anterior, lower jaw prominent ; 

 intermaxillary short ; maxillary forming the lateral part of the 

 mouth. Bands of villiform teeth in the jaws, on the vomer, 

 palatine and pterygoid bones, on the tongue and on the base of 

 the skull. Dorsal fin opposite to, or immediately behind, the 

 ventrals; anal rather larger than dorsal. Gill-membranes en- 

 tirely separate, with numerous branchiostegals. Pseudobranchiae 

 none. 



Two species, one belonging to the Indo-Pacific {M. cypri- 

 noides), the other to the Atlantic (M, thrissoides) ; they are 

 the largest fishes of this family, exceeding a length of five 



