^56 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



head short, compressed, the profile obtuse; mouth small, ter- 

 minal, the jaws subequal; premaxillaries not protractile; jaws 

 each with a single series of weak teeth; scales very small, 

 cycloid, silvery, loosely inserted, extending on the vertical fins; 

 opercular bones entire; gill membranes separate, free from the 

 isthmus; gill rakers moderate; lateral line continuous, concur- 

 rent with the back; dorsal fin long, more or less elevated in 

 front, preceded by a few indistinct spines usually one or more 

 procumbent spines in front of dorsal and anal, each of these 

 with a free point both anteriorly and posteriorly; anal fin 

 similar to dorsal, or shorter, usually with three small spines; 

 ventral fins wanting; a single small, sharp spine, attached to the 

 pubic bone, occupying the place of the ventrals; pectorals long 

 and narrow; caudal widely forked. Species few, mostly Ameri- 

 can. This genus differs from Stromateus chiefly in the 

 prominence of the pelvic bone, which projects as a lamina 

 beyond the skin. (After Jordan and Evermann) 



Subgenus rhoMbus 

 228 Rhombus paru (Linnaeus) 

 HarvestfisJi; Pappy fish 

 Stroviaieus paru Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. ed. X, I, 2i8, 1758, Jamaica; .Torban 



& Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 914, 1883. 

 Cfiaclodon akpidotiis Linnaels, Syst. Nat. ed. XII, 460, 1766, Charleston. 

 Stromateus alepidotus Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. 16, U.S. Nat. Mus. 451, 18S3. 

 Stromateus loucjipiuuis Mitchill, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soo. N. Y. I, 366, 18ir>, 



New York Baj'. 

 Rhombus lounipinnis Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. IX, 401, 



pi. 274, 1833; De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 130, pi. 75, fig. 239, 1842. 

 Stromateus (jardrnii Gunthek, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. II, 399, 1860. 

 Rhowhu.s iKiru Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 905, 1896. 



pi. CL, fig. 404, 1900; Bean, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. IX, 364, 1897; 



Smith, Bull. U. S. F. C. XVII, 99, 1898. 



Body ovate or suborbicular, strongly compressed, its greatest 

 depth iilxmt three fourths of its length without the caudal; 

 caudal peduncle short and slender, its least depth contained two 

 and three fifths times in the length of the short head; mouth 

 very small, ol)li(ine, the maxilla reaching to below front of eye; 

 IK) pores along side of back; eye round, as long as the snout, 

 and about one fourth as long as the head; profile of head very 



