Jordan and Ei'crmann. Fishes of North America. 2809 



Page 417. Alter Dnrosoma pttemtuse add : 



202 ( a). SIGNALOSA. Evermunn A: Kendall. 

 Si>jnaloia, EVEKMANX .y KENDALL. Bull. U. S. Fish Cooim. 1887 (Feb. 9, 1898). 



Body short, deep, and compressed. the form somewhat elliptical; ventral 

 outline more strongly curved than the dorsal; head rather large, snont 

 sharp and pointed, uot tumid : month small, obliqne. the lower jaw scarcely 

 included: maxillary of 3 pieces, broad and curved, but without notch in 

 the outer margin as in Dorosoma: caudal peduncle short and deep. Bran- 

 chiostegals 5 : pseudobranchia* large: gill rakers short and very numerous. 

 about 340 in number. Xo teeth ; adipose eyelid present ; stomach gizzard- 

 like: scutes about 17 -f- 1<>. Last ray of dorsal very long and filamentous. 

 This genus is allied to Dorosoma, from which it is plainly distinguished by 

 the absence of the notch in the maxillary, the more pointed snont, the 

 less-included lower jaw. the shorter anal fin, larger scales, and the fewer 

 scutes. It difiers from Alosa in the very numerous gill rakers, the character 

 of the dorsal fin. and in other respects. (sig*Mm, a flagstaff or pole ; Mosa, 

 the shad: a reference to the long dorsal ray.) 



679(a). SIGXALOSA ATCHAFALAYi. Evenuann & Kendall. 



Head 3? : depth 3f; eye 3^ in head: snont 5i: maxillary 3*. D. I. 12: 

 A. I 24 : scales 42-15 ; scutes 17 -f- 10. Body oblong-elliptical, compressed, 

 the back in front of dorsal narrow; ventral edge sharp, serrate: head 

 small, mouth terminal, oblique, lower jaw slightly included : snout rather 

 pointed, not blunt, as in Dorosomacepfdianum: maxillary in 3 pieces, long 

 and curved, reaching vertical at front of pupil, the outer edge not notched; 

 no teeth. Caudal peduncle short, compressed, and deep. Origin of dorsal 

 fin over b;ise of ventrals, much nearer tip of snout than base of caudal, 

 the last ray filamentous, about longer than head and nearly reaching 

 base of caudal ; the first dorsal ray about 2 in the last one; pectoral 1^ in 

 head, reaching base of veutrals: ventrals short, reaching only halfway to 

 vent, their length U in pectorals: anal rays short, base of tin 1 in head; 

 scutes moderate: caudal widely forked, the lower lobe the longer; 

 scales large, thin, deciduous, somewhat crowded anteriorly; accessory 

 scales at bases of pectorals and ventrals: base of caudal with small 

 scales. Color bluish black or dark olivaceous on back and sides to level 

 of the jet-black humeral spot : rest of sides and under parts bright silvery ; 

 dorsal and caudal dusky ; other fins plain. The cotypes from Grand 

 Plains Bayou are 2 females with ripe roe. They are 41 and 54 inches 

 long, respectively, and differ from the types only in the deeper body and 

 the much darker coloration of the upper parts. 

 3030 - 99 



