160 PISCES. 



Pteraolis, Gronov. — Oligopodus, Lacep. 



Teeth and head of the Coryphaense; but the scales are larger, the 

 ventrals jugular and very small, and the dorsal and anal as high as 

 the fish itself. 



P.velifer; Coryphaena velifera, Pall., Spic. Zool., Fasc, VIII, 

 pi. 1.(1) From the Carolinas, and the only species known. 



FAMILY VIII. 



T^NIOIDES. 



This family is closely connected with the Scomberoides, and 

 its first genus is even intimately allied with Gempilus and 

 Thyrsites; tlie fishes which compose it are elongated, flattened 

 on the sides, and have very small scales. 



In the first tribe we find the muzzle elongated, the mouth 

 cleft and armed with strong, pointed and trenchant teeth, and 

 the lower jaw advancing beyond the upper one : it comprises 

 but two genera, 



Lepidopus, Gouan. 



Whose special character consists in the reduction of the ventrals to 

 two small scaly plates; the thin and elongated body is furnished v/ith 

 a dorsal above, which extends throughout its length, with a low anal 

 beneath, and terminates in a well formed caudal; there are eight 

 rays in the branchiae; the stomach is elongated, with upwards of 

 twenty csecums near the pylorus, and a prominent glandular body 

 is attached to the natatory bladder, which is long and slender. 



Lep. argyreus, Cuv. Frequently five feet in length; it has 

 been described under several names, (2) and is found from Eng- 

 land to the Cape of Good Hope, but is rare every where. 



(1) Bosc assures us that he caught it in Carolina; Pallas says that his is from the 

 Moluccas. — They may be different species. 



(2) It is the Lepidopus of Gouan., Hist. Pise, pi. i, fig. 4; the Trichiurus 

 caudatus, Euphrasen, New Stockh. Mem., TX, pi. ix, f. 2; the Trick, gladius, 

 Holten, Soc. Hist. Nat. Copenh. V, p. 23, and pi. ii; the Trick, ensifurmis of Vau- 

 delli, or Vanddlius lusitanicus of Shaw ; the ZIphotheca tetradms of Montagu, Wer- 

 ner. Soc. I, p. 81, pi. ii; the Sarcinu argyrea, Rafin., Nuov. Caratt., pi. vii, f. 1; the 

 Lepidope Peron, Uisso; and the Lepidope argents of Nardo. 



