28 FISHES OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK 



y. Mouth not as above. Pharyngeal teeth 

 few, in one or more rows. Cyprinidce 



(b) Mouth with or without small teeth. Tail fin 



strongly forked, almost all marine or 

 anodromous. 

 x. Mouth moderate or large, jaws equal or 



the lower the longer, 

 (x) Lateral line present. Elopidce 



(y) Lateral line absent. Clupeidce 



y. Snout projecting more or less beyond the 



mouth. 



(x) Mouth very large. Engraulididce 

 (y) Mouth small. Body cylindrical. 

 Marine. Albulida; 



(z) Mouth small. Body deep and com- 

 pressed. Fresh water. 



Dorosomidce 



(c) Mouth with small teeth. Tail fin squarish or 



rounded. Small fishes of fresh, brackish, or 

 salt water. 



x. No groove across the snout behind the 



top of the upper jaw. Umbridce 



y. A groove across the snout behind the top 



of the upper j aw. Poeciliidce 



(B) Mouth large, with large teeth. Tail fin moderately 

 forked, back fin placed far back. Esotidae 



b. No ventral fins. Small silvery deep bodied, 



compressed marine fishes, back and anal 

 fins long and similar in form, of soft rays. 

 Tail fin deeply forked. Stromateidce 



c. Some of the anterior rays of the back fin spiny, 



or an anterior spiny back fin, or several 

 isolated spines in front of the back fin. 



(I) Numerous thread-like filaments before the pectoral fin . 



Polynemidce 



(II) A long double barbel at the chin. Mullidce 



