2768 



THE BONY FISHES AND GANOIDS 



caused by their bite being said to fester in a violent manner, as if inflamed." 

 Fossil barracudas occur in the middle Eocene of Monte Bolca; while in the 

 Cretaceous rocks of the Lebanon and Brazil the family is represented by the extinct 

 genus Cladocydus. 



The second family of the group under consideration is typically 

 represented by the so-called sand smelts; one of the two British 

 species (Atherina hepsetus} being shown in the left figure of our illustration. As i 

 family, the Atherinidce are distinguished from the barracudas by the indistinct 

 lateral line; the feeble or moderately-developed dentition, and by the number of 



Sand Smelts 



SAND SMELT AND CUVIER'S SQUARE TAII,. 

 (One-half natural size.) 



vertebrae being usually in excess of twenty-four. The body is more or less 

 elongate, with but slight compression. In the sand smelts the scales are smooth 

 and cycloid, and the teeth minute; the first dorsal fin is short and completely 

 separate from the second; and the muzzle is blunt, with the cleft of the mouth 

 straight, oblique, and extending at least as far back as the line of the border of tne 

 ye. These fish derive their popular title from their resemblance to the true smelts, 

 from which they may be distinguished at a glance by the small spinous first dorsal 

 fin. While the majority are coast fishes, associating in large shoals, others are 

 fresh-water, although these also retain the same habit. The genus has a wide 



