138 FISHES. 



P. vellfer ; Coryphcena velifera, Pall. Spic. Zool. Fasc. VIII, 

 pi. 1 *. From the Carolinas, and the only species known (a). 



The Eighth Family of Acanthopterygians, that of 



FAMILY VIII. 



T^NIOIDES, 



Taenioids, or R,ibband Fish, is closely connected with the Scombe- 

 roides, and its first genus is even intimately allied with Gempilus and 

 Tliyrsites; the fishes which compose it are elongated, flattened on the 

 sides, and have very small scales. 



The first tribe has the muzzle elongated, the mouth cleft and armed 

 with strong, pointed, and trenchant teeth, and the lower jaw advancing 

 beyond the upper one : it comprises but two genera, 



Lepidopus, Gouaju, 



Whose special character consists in the reduction of the ventrals to two 

 small scaly plates; the thin and elongated body is furnished with a dorsal 

 above, which extends throughout its length, with a low^ anal beneath, and 

 terminates in a well-formed caudal; there are eight rays in the branchiae; 

 the stomach is elongated, with upwards of twenty cjgcums near the pylo- 

 rus, and a prominent glandular body is attached to the natatory bladder, 

 which is long and slender. 



Lep. argyreus, Cuv. (The Garter Fish). Frequently five feet 

 in length; it has been described under several names -j", and is found 

 from England to the Cape of Good Hope, but is rare every where. 



Trichiurus, Li?i. — Lepturus, Artedi, — Gymnogaster, 

 Gronov., 



Have the form of body, muzzle, and jaws, similar pointed and trenchant 

 teeth, and a dorsal extending along the back, as in Lepidopus ; but the 



* Bosc assures us that he caught it in Carolina; Pallas says that his is from the 

 Moluccas. — They may be diiFerent species. 



f It is the Lepidojjus of Gouan., Hist. Pise. pi. i, fig. 4; the Trichiurus caudaliis, 

 Euphrasen, New Stockh. Mem. IX, pi. ix, f. 2; the Trick, gladius, Holten, Soc. 

 Hist. Nat. Copenh. V, p. 23, and pi. ii; the Trich. ensi/ormis of Vaudelli, or Favdcl- 

 lius lusitanicus of Shaw; the Zipntlieca tetradens of Montagu, Werner, Soc. I, p. 81, 

 pi. ii; the Sarcina urgyrea, Rafin. Nouv. Caratt. pi. vii, f. 1; the Lepidope Pert 71, 

 Riss.; and the Lepidope argente of Nardo. 



|^° (a) In the ninth volume of his great work on Icthyology, Cuvier is enabled 

 to describe three more species. The first is the P. oceUuUis,'hrovtg\\t home by the na- 

 turalists, Quoy and Gaymard; it was found in the stomach of a bonila, which was 

 caught in the Indian Sea, near Madagascar, in south latitude 30°, and was so fresh 

 at the time, that it must have been then but recently swallowed. The other two 

 species are P. trichepterus and P. CaroUmis. The whole are in the King's Cabinet in 

 Paris. — Eng. Ed. 



