Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 759 



straying to America, placed in two genera, Macrorhamphosus and Centri- 

 ttcoim. (('('HtriKcidii', part, genus Centrincu8,* Giinther, in, 518-524, 18(51.) 

 <(. liody oblong, graduating into the caudal peduncle; back straight; dorsal spines about 7. 



MACROKHAMPHOSUS, 343. 



343- MACRORHAMPHOSUS, Lacepede. 



(SNIPEFISHES.) 



Macrorliamphosus, LACEPEDE, Hist. Nat. Poiss., v, 136, 1803, (cornutus = scolopax). 

 Centriscus, CUVIER, Regne Anim., Ed. i, n, 350, 1817, (scolopax; not Centriscus, L.). 

 Macrognathm, GRONOW, Cat. Fishes, 147, 1854, (scolopax). 

 Orthichthys, GILL, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1862, 234, (velUans). 



Body oblong, graduating into the caudal peduncle; back straight ; dor- 

 sal spines about 7. Characters otherwise included above. (/*a/cp6f, long; 

 (Oa/z^of, snout.) 



1109. MACRORHAMPHOSUS SCOLOPAX (Linnseue). 

 (SNIPEFISH ; TRUMPET-FISH ; BELLOWS- FISH.) 



Head 2i; depth 3| to 4. D. V-12; A. 20; vertebra? 8 -f 16. Body 

 strongly compressed and somewhat elevated, covered with small striated 

 scales, each stria terminating in a rather strong spine; second dorsal 

 spine very strong, serrated posteriorly, its length about ^ total length of 

 fish ; snout several times longer than the rest of the head. Rose red or 

 reddish olive above, silvery on the sides and belly. Mediterranean Sea ; 

 occasional northward to southern England ; accidental on our North 

 Atlantic Coast, (scolopax, snipe.) (Eu.) 



Batistes scolopax, LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., Ed. x, 1758, 329, Mediterranean. 

 Sihmis cornutus, FORSKAL, Descr. Anim., 66, 1775, Marseilles. 



Centriscus scolopax, LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., Ed. xii, i, 415, 1766; GUNTHER, Cat., m, 518, 1861; 

 JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 388, 1883. 



Order AA. LOPHOBRANCHII. 



(THE LOPHOBRANCHS.) 



Gills tufted, not laminated, composed of small rounded lobes attached 

 to the gill arches. Interclavicles well developed. Scapula suspended to 

 the cranium by a post-temporal. Superior branchihyals and pharyngeals, 

 and basal branchihyals wanting or not ossified. Mouth very small, 

 bounded above by the premaxillaries. Post-temporal simple, coossified 

 with the cranium; basis of the cranium simple. Pectoral fins with 

 elevated bases. Anterior vertebrae modified, the diapophyses much 

 expanded. Air bladder simple, without air duct. Snout produced, bear- 

 ing the small toothless mouth at the end. Gill covers reduced to a large 

 simple plate. Skin with bony plates. Muscular system little developed. 



*The original type of Centriscus, LinnseuR, and the only species placed by him in On/risen* in 

 the tenth edition of the Systema Naturae, is Centriscus scutatus L., a species of a different family. 

 For the genus usually called Amphisile, the name Centriscus must therefore be used. 



