826 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



Sphyrsma borealis, DE KAY, N. Y. Fauna : Fishes, 37, plate 60, fig. 196, 1842, New York ; MEEK 



& NEWLAND, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1884, 73. 

 Sphyrsena spet, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 411, 1883 ; not of HAUY. 



1204. SPHYRJENA AR6ENTEA, Girard. 

 (CALIFORNIA BARRACUDA ; BAHRACOUTA.) 



Head 3f ; depth 7|; eye 10. D. V-I, 9; A. I, 8 ; scales in 238 series, 166 

 in the lateral line. Body elongate, little compressed. Lower jaw much 

 produced, fleshy at tip. Maxillary not reaching front of eye, about 3 in 

 head. Teeth moderate, little compressed. Spinous dorsal inserted a little 

 nearer snout than caudal, just in front of ventrals, well behind the end 

 of the pectorals, which are a little longer than the ventrals and less 

 than -fa the total length. Scales very small. Brownish, with bluish 

 luster; belly white, scarcely silvery. Length 5 feet. Pacific Coast, from 

 San Francisco southward to Cape San Lucas ; very abundant about the 

 Santa Barbara Islands. A long and slender Barracuda, very closely related 

 to the European Sphyrcena sphyrcena', an important food-fish with flesh 

 rich, firm, and delicate, (argenteus, silvery.) 



Sphyrsena argentea, GIRARD, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1854, 144, San Diego, California; MEEK 



& NEWLAND, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci., 1884, 75. 

 Sphyrsena lucasana, GILL, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1863, 86, Cape San Lucas. 



1205. SPHYRjENA SPHYR.ENA (Linnseus). 

 (EUROPEAN BARRACUDA ; SPET ; SENNET.) 



Head 3^; depth 9 to 10 in total length; eye 8. D. V-I, 9; A. I, 9; 

 scales 150-25 to 30 ; vertebrae 24. Operculum with a single point : lower 

 jaw with a long fleshy appendage anteriorly. Pectoral 12 in total length, 

 and nearly equal to that of the ventrals; the spine of the latter is not 

 much shorter than the rays. The origin of the first dorsal is far behind 

 the extremity of the pectorals, and somewhat before the vertical from the 

 root of the ventrals, in the middle of the length of the fish, the caudal 

 not included. The interspace between the 2 dorsals is equal to ^ of the total 

 length. Above uniform greenish lead-colored, beneath silvery ; the color 

 of the back sometimes emits crossbars intersecting the lateral line. 

 Young individuals brown spotted. Coasts of southern Europe and neigh- 

 boring islands ; rather common ; recorded from the Bermudas by Dr. Goode. 

 (Eu.) (Sphyrcena, ctyvpaiva, the ancient name.) 



Esox sphyrsena, LINN.EUS, Systema Naturae, Ed. x, 313, 1758, Mediterranean Sea; after 



Sphyrsena of ARTEDI. 



Esox spet, HAUY, Encycl. Meth. Poiss., 1787; after LINNAEUS. 

 Sphyrsena vulgaris, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., IIT, 327, 1829, Mediterranean; 



GUNTHER, Cat., ii, 334, 1860. 

 Sphyreena viridescens, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., in, 339, 1829, St. Jago, Cape 



Verde Islands. 

 Sphyrsena spet, GOODE, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., v, 1876, 61. 



