MUGlLHXfi. 



AVANTHOPTERYGII. MUG1LID&. 



THE ATHERINE, OR SANDSMELT. 



Atherina presbyter, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 235. 



,, hepsetus, Atherine, PENN. Brit. Zoul. vol. iii. p. 434, pi. 76. 



,, ,, ,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 87. 



FLEM. Brit. An. p. 217, sp. 160. 



Generic Characters. Body rather elongated ; two dorsal fins widely sepa- 

 rated ; ventral fins placed far behind the pectorals ; sides with a broad longitu- 

 dinal silver band ; teeth minute ; branchiostegous rays 6. 



HAVING carefully examined and dissected specimens of the 

 Atherine of our southern coast, I find that it agrees with the 

 characters described by Cuvier as belonging to the species he 

 has called A. presbyter, and does not coincide with those 

 of the A. hepsetus of Linnaeus and other authors, nor with 

 those of either of the species described by Brunnich or M. 

 Risso as inhabiting the Mediterranean. I am therefore 

 induced to believe that our British Atherine is the A. pres- 

 byter of Cuvier, and I have adopted that name accordingly. 



Cuvier considers that more than two species of Atherine 

 have been confounded under the name of hepsetus. 



The following observations are from Colonel Montagu's 

 notes : 



" The Atherine is as plentiful on some parts of the 



