FISHES OF NEW YORK 209 



cheeks not deep; gill rakers long and numerous; otherwise 

 essentially as in P o m o 1 o b u s. The genus Sardinella, as 

 here understood, covers a wide diversity of forms and may be 

 divisible into several genera when the anatomy of the species 

 is better known. (After Jordan and Evermann) 



116 Sardinella species 

 Scaled Sardine 



An individual about 9 inches long was obtained by W. I. De 

 Nyse in Gravesend bay in 1895. This was the only one observed 

 in that locality, and it is the only record known of the occur- 

 rence of a fish of this genus north of Florida. The specimen 

 was seen and identified as a Sardinella by the writer, but, 

 before he had opportunity to make a detailed study, it disap- 

 peared from the tank in w 7 hich it was placed and could not be 



found. 



Genus OPISTHOXEMA Gill 



Characters essentially those of Sardinella, except that 

 the last ray of the dorsal is produced in a long filament as in 

 Dorosoma, Megalops and Tarpon. Species few, 

 American. 



117 Opisthonema oglinum (Le Sueur) 



Thread Herring; Shad Herring; Sprat Herring 



Megalops oglina LE SUEUR, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. I, 359, Sept. 1818, 



Newport, R. I. 



Megalops notata LE SUEUR, op. cit. 361, Sept. 1818. Guadeloupe. 

 Chatoessns signifer DE KAY, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 264, pi. 41, fig. 132, 1842. 

 Opisthonema oglina GOODE & BEAN. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. VIII, 206, June 



8, 1885. 

 Opisthonema oglinum JORDAN <fc EVEBMAXX, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 432, 



1896; BEAN, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. IX, 336, 1897; SMITH, Bull. 



U. S. F. C. XVII, 91, 1898. 



Body oblong, deep, compressed, its greatest depth one third 

 of the total length without caudal ; caudal peduncle short, stout, 

 its least depth one half the length of head; head short, deep, 

 its length one fourth of total length without caudal; eye large, 

 two sevenths to one third of length of head, slightly longer than 

 snout; maxilla reaching to below front of pupil, its width more 



