866 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



pointed, compressed. Mouth large, maxillary extending to anterior mar- 

 gin of orbit. Ventrals and pectorals short, the former nearly half length 

 of head. Lustrous dark blue above, with about 35 wavy, blackish, trans- 

 verse streaks ; below silvery ; base of pectorals dark j base of preopercle 

 with about 15 or 20 small black specks or mucous pores, generally arranged 

 in a single row ; both dorsals margined with white. Length 18 inches. 

 North Atlantic ; abundant on both coasts, north to Norway and Labrador ; 

 south to Spain and Cape Hatteras. One of the best known food-fishes of 

 America and Europe. (Eu.) 

 Scomber scombnts, LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., Ed. x, 297, 1758, Atlantic; after Scomber pinnulis V 



of AETEDI; JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 424, 1883; DRESSLAR & FESLER, I. c., 431, 1889. 

 Scomber vernalis, MITCHILL, Trans. Lit. and Philos. Soc. N. Y., 1815, 423, Sandy Hook, New 



Jersey. 

 Scomber scomber, LINN/EUS, Syst. Nat., Ed. xn, 492, 1766; after ARTEDI; GONTHER, Cat., n, 357, 



1860. 



Subgenus PNEUMATOPHORUS, Jordan & Gilbert. 

 1253. SCOMBER COLIAS, Gmelin.* 



(CHUB MACKEREL ; TINKER MACKEREL ; EASTER MACKEREL; THIMBLE-EYED MACKEREL ; SPANISH 

 MACKEREL OF ENGLAND.) 



Head 3 ; depth 3; eye 4 in head, nearly equal to snout. D. IX-1, 12-V 

 or VI ; A. I-I, 11-V or VI ; scales 200. Hea'd rather pointed ; ridges of 

 skull evident but not parallel; subopercle rather more elliptical than tri- 

 angular; posterior border of eye covered with large radiating scales; top 

 of head with a large translucent area; no groove connecting dorsals ; the 

 first dorsal higher than long, the last spines short and weak ; second dor- 

 sal twice as long as high. Maxillary reaching front of pupil. Pectoral 

 | length of head. Blue, with about 30 wavy, blackish streaks which 

 extend to just below the lateral line; some of these form reticulations, 

 and inclose pale spots of the color of the back ; more than 20 black 

 specks or mucous pores on base of preopercle, generally arranged in more 

 than one row ; belly and sides silvery, but always in the adult with 

 roundish dusky spots or cloudings ; a black axillary spot. Atlantic and 

 Pacific oceans, widely distributed, north to England, Maine, and San 

 Francisco ; very common in the Mediterranean and in southern Califor- 

 nia ; irregular in its appearance on our Atlantic Coast. Smaller than the 

 common mackerel and inferior to it, although a food-fish of importance. 

 The Pacific Coast form called Scomber diego differs in no tangible charac- 

 ter, (colias, an old name of some mackerel.) (Eu.) 



* A supposed hybrid between Scomber scombnts and Scomber colias was obtained at Block Island, 

 off Bhode Island, by Dr. Seth E. Meek. The following are its characters: 



Head 4 in length to fork of caudal fin; eye 5 in head. D. XII, I-10-IV; A. I, 11-IV. Body 

 robust, as in colias. Caudal peduncle round, as in colias, rather than depressed, as in scombrus. 

 No longitudinal groove between the dorsals. A black axillary spot. Snout more like scombrus 

 than colias. Ventrals and pectorals short. Hindmost fin lets double, as is the case with S. 

 scombrus. Kidges on its head are in three parallel lines, as in scombrus, not as in colias. Suboper- 

 cle more elliptical than triangular. Posterior border of eye not covered with large radiating 

 scales. Top of head, as in S. scombrus, without translucent area. About 20 small black specks 

 or pores at base of preopercle, arranged in a single row. Coloring on the back in blotches, as 

 in colias, rather than in stripes, as in scombrus. Sides mottled, much as in colias. Base of pec- 

 torals dark. The following notn was made by Dr. Meek: "September 16, Block Island. A 

 peculiarly marked Scomber scombrus, only four finlets, no air bladder, low spinous dorsal, and 

 markings of S. colias. Mr, Blackford thinks it is a cross between the two." Length 13% 



