SCOMBER.] PISCES (OSSEI) ACANTHOPT. 361 



caudal fork: profile slightly convex : jaws about equal: teeth small but 

 numerous, in a single row on the edge of each jaw, as well as on the 

 palatines ; longer and more slender teeth on the pharyngeans : diameter 

 of the eye one-fifth the length of the head : interopercle and subopercle 

 much developed: first dorsal commencing at one-third of the whole 

 length from the end of the snout ; of a triangular form ; rising from 

 a deep groove, in which it is entirely concealed when laid back ; second 

 ray longest, equalling two-thirds of the depth beneath; last ray ex- 

 tremely short : space between the dorsals one-sixth of the whole length : 

 second only half as high as the first; its length twice its height; first 

 ray spinous; the next two articulated but simple; the rest articulated 

 and branched : between it and the caudal five spurious finlets ; each con- 

 sisting of one branched ray ; the last double : anal similar to the second 

 dorsal, and followed by the same number of spurious finlets ; before its 

 base, immediately behind the vent, a small free spine: caudal forked 

 nearly to the extremity of the tail itself; the central rays only one-fourth 

 the length of the lateral ones : pectorals small, not half the length of the 

 head ; third ray longest ; all except the first two branched : ventrals a 

 little behind them, and somewhat shorter, triangular ; first ray spinous 

 but slender ; the rest soft and branched : 



B. 7; D. 11 or 121/11, and V false; A. 11/11, and V false; C. 17; 

 P. 18 or 19; V. 1/5: 



two cutaneous ridges on each side of the tail, forming a double keel. 

 Number of vertebrae thirty-one. (Colours.) Back, and sides above the 

 lateral line, rich green varied with blue, with dark transverse bands; 

 belly and lower part of the sides silvery white : dorsal, caudal, and pec- 

 toral fins, dusky ; ventrals and anal reddish. 



Gregarious: approaches the shore in large shoals to spawn early in 

 the Spring, and retires at the end of the Summer to deep water. Weight 

 about two pounds ; but, according to Pennant, has been known in one 

 instance to exceed five. Has no swimming bladder. 



35. S. maculatus. Couch. (Spanish Mackarel.) 

 First dorsal with seven rays : sides and belly thickly 

 covered with small dusky spots. 



S. maculatus, Couch in Loud. Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. v. p. 22. f. 8. 

 Le Maquereau Colias, Cuv. et Vol. Poiss. torn. vm. p. 29. pi. 209.? 

 Spanish Mackarel, Couch, I.e. Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 131. 



DESCRIPT. " Figure round and plump, six inches and a half in com- 

 pass near the pectoral fins (in a specimen fourteen inches and a half in 

 length), the thickness of its figure being carried far towards the tail : 

 mouth large ; jaws of equal length ; teeth small ; tongue moveable and 

 pointed : head large and long : eye large, one inch and one-eighth from 

 the snout, and itself six eighths of an inch wide ; from the snout to the 

 pectoral three inches and a half: rays of the gill-membrane six, con- 

 cealed : lateral line at first slightly descending, then straight : scales on 

 the superior plate of the gill-covers as well as on the body : first dorsal 

 in a chink, with seven rays, the first shorter, second and third of equal 

 lengths : spurious fins six above and below, the anterior not high : tail 

 divided, and at its origin doubly carinated : vent prominent. Colour dark 

 blue on the back, striped like the Mackarel, but more obscurely and with 

 fewer stripes ; a row of large dark spots from the pectoral fin to the tail ; 

 sides and belly thickly covered with smaller dusky spots : tail, gill- 



