Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 877 



Pectoral 2i in head. Corselet small. Steel blue; dark above, paler 

 below ; no distinct markings, young faintly barred ; tins colored like the 

 body. Tropical seas; not rare about Cuba, where it spawns: north to 

 southern Florida; not rare about the Florida Keys. It reaches a length 

 of 6 fe"et or more and a weight of over 50 to 100 pounds, and is valued as 

 a food-fish. (Named for its discoverer, Solander, an early explorer. ) (Eu. ) 



C//l>in, <>I<tn<iri, Crviioi; A VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., vni, 192, 1831; after MS. of SOLAN- 

 DER ; open sea, exact locality unknown. 

 C'l/bhun sara, BENNETT, Beechey's Voyage, Zool., 63, pi. 20, fig. 2, 1849, Loo Choo ; GUNTIIEK. 



Cat., u, 373, 1860. 



Ciilimnpetus, POEY, Memorias, n, 234.pl. 16, fig. 1,1860, Havana. 

 Ct/biuiit reran//, DODEKLEIN, Giorn. di Sc. Nat., Ed. Econ., vni, 1872, Palermo. 

 Acanthocybium petus, POEY, Synopsis, 363, 1868. 

 Acanthocybium solandri, JOBDAN, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1884, 119. 



Family CXIX. GEMPYLID^E. 

 (THE ESCOLARS.) 



Mackerel-like fishes with the body rather elongate, more or less com- 

 pressed, covered with minute scales. Lateral line various, sometimes 

 obsolete, sometimes with a dorsal branch. Head large, compressed, with 

 very strong teeth, usually compressed, some of the anterior canine-like. 

 Lower jaw projecting. Gill openings wide, the membranes not united, 

 free from isthmus. Gills 4, a slit behind fourth. Opercles in adult 

 unarmed ; in young the preopercle with radiating spines as usual in scom- 

 broid fishes. Dorsal fin long, a notch separating the weak spines from 

 the soft part, which always forms a distinct lobe anteriorly, similar in 

 form to the anal fin. Finlets often present. Caudal peduncle slender, 

 usually not keeled, the fin moderate in size, always forked. Ventrals 

 small, often reduced to a single spine. Vertebrae numerous, 32 to 53 in 

 number. Pyloric coaca rather few. Air bladder usually present. Color- 

 ation metallic, usually brilliant. Genera about 6; species about 12. 

 Fishes of the high seas, widely distributed and descending to considera- 

 ble depths, usually breeding about rocky islands, most of them used as 

 food. The Gempylidce are closely allied to the Scombrida, from which they 

 diverge in the direction of the Lepidopidw and TrickiwridcB. The succes- 

 sive steps are indicated by the progressive elongation of the body, the 

 progressive reduction of the ventrals and the vertical fins, and on the 

 other hand by the progressive elongation of the lower jaw and the spe- 

 cialization of the dentition. Dr. Liitkeii calls attention to the fact that 

 the Gempylida; possess a system of dermal ribs or subcutaneous ribs, com- 

 posed of slender bony filaments close-set, directed backward and upward," 

 and backward and downward from the median line. This character has 

 been verified in Thyrsites, Nealotus, and Gempylus. (Trichiurida, part, Giin- 

 ther, Cat., u, 349-353, 1860.) 



THYRSITIN^E: 



a. Body moderately elongate, the dorsal spines less than 30, the finlets usually few. 

 6. Yentrals well developed, their rays I, 5. 



c. Dorsal and anal each with detached finlets. 



d. Lateral line well developed, moderately curved; finlets 2; skin with small thin 

 scales. BIPINNCLA, 396. 



