20*2 PISCES. 



observed in the shark, it has been said that the former acts as a guide or pilot 

 to the latter ; it is not above a foot long. 



There are various other genera belonging to this family, such as Rhyn- 

 chobdella, Notacanthus, Scriola, Nomeus, Caranx, Vomer, Zeus (The Com- 

 mon Dory), &c. &c. 



FAMILY VIII. 



THIS family is closely connected with the Scomberoides, and its first genus 

 is even intimately allied with Gempilus and Thyrsites; the fishes which 

 compose it are elongated, flattened on the sides, and have very small scales. 



In the first tribe we find 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, Gouan, 



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



TRICHIURUS, Linnceus. 



The same form of body, muzzle, and jaws, as in Lepidopus ; similar pointed 

 and trenchant teeth, and a dorsal extending along the back, but the ventrals 

 and caudal are wanting, and the tail is drawn out into a long, slender, and 

 compressed filament. In lieu of the anal there is merely a suite of small and 

 hardly perceptible spines on the under edge of the tail ; the branchiae have 

 but seven rays. They resemble beautiful silver ribands. 



A second tribe comprehends genera in which the mouth is small, and but 

 slightly cleft. 



GYMNETRUS, Bl. Schneider. 



The body elongated and flat, as in all the preceding divisions, and totally 

 deprived of the anal fin ; but there is a long dorsal, whose lengthened anterior 

 rays form a sort of panache, but they are easily broken ; the ventrals, when 

 not worn or broken, are very long, and the caudal, composed of very few rays, 

 rises vertically from the extremity of the tail, which ends in a small hook. 



The Arctic Ocean produces two species, called in Norway the King of the 

 Herrings ; one of which is said by some to have one hundred and twenty 

 rays, and by others one hundred and sixty, and to attain the length of ten 

 feet; the other has more than four hundred rays, and is eighteen feet in 



Riband-like. 



