246 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 



GENUS SCOPELUS. Cuvier. 



Body long and slender. Mouth and gills excessively cleft. Branchial rays nine and ten. 

 Small teeth in both jaws ; the edge of the upper jaw formed entirely by the intermaxilla- 

 ries. Tongue and palate smooth. The first dorsal over the space between the ventral and 

 anal. The adipose Jin rudimentary. 



THE ARGENTINE. 



SCOPELDS HUMBOLDTI'! 



PLATE XXXVm. FIG. 121. 



Argentina sphyrena. Pennant, British Zoology, Vol. 3, p. 432, pi. 76, 



Scopdus humboldti. CnviER, R. A. Ed. Angl. Vol. 10, p. 432. 



The Argentine, S. id. Clarke, Lond. Mag. Nat. Hist. No. 13, 1838. 



The Argentine, S. id. Stoker, Report on the Fishes of Massachusetts, p. 110. 



Characteristics. Several series of brilliant silvery points along the sides of the body and tail. 

 Length two inches. 



Description. Body oblong, much compressed. Lateral line almost imperceptible, nearly 

 straight, commencing at the upper third of the opercle. Mouth widely cleft, with minute 

 teeth in both jaws. Eyes large, 0" 2 in diameter. 



Color. The back, to the depth of about a line, green. Sides and gill-covers silvery. A 

 series of circular metallic spots along the belly, from before the pectorals to the vent. Above 

 these, another row; and behind the vent another, consisting of similar but smaller dots 

 extending to the base of the caudal fin. Iridcs silvery. 



Length, 2-1 ; of the head, 0-3. 



Fin rays, D. 10.— ; P. 17 ; V. 8 ; A. 15 ; C. 19. 



But one living specimen has, as far as I am acquainted, been met with on our shores. It 

 occurred at Nahant on the coast of Massachusetts, and is noticed by Dr. Stoker, whose de- 

 scription is copied. Dr. Storer is silent respecting the spots on the opercle, and the slight 

 ridge between the dorsal and base of the caudal, which represents the adipose fin in the 

 European species. In this latter species, also, there are stated to be four scries of metallic 

 colored spots. The American species is, in all probability, distinct from that of the Medi- 

 terranean. 



