The Bony-fish; Ten-pounder 



Head 4; depth 3$; eye 4^; snout 5; maxillary if; D. 12; A. 

 20; scales 5-42-5; branchibstegais 23; dorsal filament longer than the 

 head. Colour, uniform bright silvery, darkish on back. The propor- 

 tional measurements in the young are somewhat different, in examples 

 of 3 inches long being as follows: Head 3^; depth 4f; eye 3^; 

 snout 4f. 



GENUS ELOPS LINNAEUS 



Body elongate, covered with small, thin, silvery scales; dorsal 

 slightly behind ventrals, its rays short; lateral line straight, its tubes 

 simple. Large fishes of the open seas, remarkable for the develop- 

 ment of scaly sheaths. Only a single species in our waters. 



Bony-fish ; Ten-pounder 



Elops saurus Linnaeus 



An abundant and widely distributed fish, found in all tropical 

 seas; common in America north to the Carolinas and the Gulf of 

 California. On our coasts it is probably most numerous in Florida. 



It reaches a length of 2 to 3 feet and a weight of several pounds. 

 The young are ribbon-shaped, long, thin, and transparent, passing 

 through a metamorphosis analogous to that seen in the conger eels. 

 They are at first band-shaped, with very small head and loose, 

 transparent tissues. From this condition they become gradually 

 shorter and more compact, shrinking from j\ inches to 2 inches in 

 length. During these stages the young of this species, the lady-fish, 

 and other fishes which undergo similar changes, are the so-called 



86 



