714 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



1058. TYLOSTJRUS EXILIS (Girard). 

 (NEEDLEFISH.) 



Head2f ; depth 7 in head. D. 15 ; A. 17 ; scales 370. Body very slender ; 

 tail very slender, broader than long, with a moderate keel, pale in color; 

 head long, the upper jaw from eye twice rest of head. Eye moderate, 2f 

 in postorbital region. Maxillary not nearly all hidden by the narrow pre- 

 orbital. Top of head flattish, with a broad scaly groove. Pectoral fin 

 \\ in postorbital part of head ; ventrals short, midway between preopercle 

 and base of caudal; dorsal and anal falcate, rather low, the anal begin- 

 ning before dorsal ; caudal fin slightly and uneq ually lunate. Translucent 

 green, silvery below; an olivaceous vertebral streak and a oluish lateral 

 band; fins plain, olivaceous, the pectoral without black. Scales very 

 small and thin, 280 before dorsal. Length 3 feet. Coast of southern 

 California, from Point Concepcion southward to Cerros Island ; abundant ; 

 rarely used as food on account of the " green backbone." Close to Tylo- 

 surus marinus, the body more slender, (exilis, slender.) 



Belone exilis, GIRARD, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1854, 149, San Diego (Coll. A. Cassidy); GIRARD, 



Pac. R. R. Surv., Fish., 158, 1858; GUNTHER, Cat., vi, 238, 1866. . 



Tylosiirus exilis, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 374, 1883; JORDAN & FORDICE, I. c., 349. 



1059. TYLOSURUS MARINUS (Walbaum). 

 (GARFISH ; BILLFISH ; NEEDLEFISH ; AGUJON.) 



Head 2f; depth 5i; snout 4^. Eye large, 2-J- in postorbital part of head. 

 D. 15; A. 17 ; vertebrae 44 -f- 24 = 68 ; scales 300. Body slender, not com- 

 pressed ; tail moderately depressed, broader than deep, the lateral line 

 passing into a slight keel which is not black. Head long, flat above, with 

 a broad, rather shallow, scaly median groove. Upper jaw from eye twice 

 length of rest of head; maxillary not nearly hidden by the preorbital. 

 Teeth sharp; mouth not quite closing. Scales and bones more or less 

 green ; pectoral equal to postorbital part of head. Ventrals moderate, 

 midway between preopercle and base of caudal ; dorsal and anal somewhat 

 falcate; the last rays always short; caudal fin slightly emarginate. 

 Scales thin and small, 240 before dorsal. Color greenish, sides silvery; 

 a narrow silvery lateral stripe; a dark bar on front of opercle; fins 

 olivaceous. Length 4 feet. Cape Cod to Texas; very abundant on our 

 Atlantic and Gulf coasts; often ascending rivers far above tide water, 

 and doubtless breeding in fresh waters, (marinus, of the sea.) 



Sea Snipe, SCHOPF, Gesellsch. Naturforschende Freunde, 177, 1788, Long Island. 



Esox marinus, WALBAUM, Artedi Piscium, in, 88, 1792; after SCHOPF. 



Esox belone, var. marinus, BLOCK & SCHNEIDER, Syst. Ichth., 391, 1801; after SCHOPF. 



Esox longirostris, MITCHILL, Amer. Month. Mag., n, 1818, 322, Hudson River. 



Belone truncata, LESuECR, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., n, 1821, 126, New York Bay; GUNTHER, 



Cat., vi, 244, 1866. 

 Belone scrutator, GIRARD, U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv., Ichth., 30, pi. 13, 1859, Brazos Santiago, 



and St. Joseph Island, Texas. (Colls. John H. Clark and Gustav Wiirdemann.) 

 Tylomrus longirostris, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 374, 1883. 

 Tylosurus marinus, JORDAN & FORDICE, I. c., 351. 



