2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I07 



several lean years. However, it does not follow that when a small 

 catch is made in North Carolina, for example. New Jersey also will 

 have a small catch the same year. Indeed, the reverse may be true. 

 The catch in the United States for certain years has exceeded 700,- 

 000,000 pounds, valued in recent years at about $11,000,000. A very 

 small part of the catch is utilized as food for man, the bulk of it being 

 used in the manufacture of oil, fish meal, and fish scrap. No fishery 

 for Brevoortia seems to have been developed in South America, though 

 the fish have been reported as abundant, at least at times, in southern 

 Brazil and in Uruguay. 



An explanation. — To avoid confusion, the following explanations as 

 to how the enumerations and proportions used in the descriptions were 

 obtained are offered. The number of fin rays includes both simple and 

 divided rays, and the number of scales is based on the oblique rows 

 that cross the middle of the side between the margin of the opercle 

 and the base of the caudal. It is highly important for conformity with 

 enumerations in the descriptions that the rows are counted at the 

 middle of the side, as in some species the scales become much smaller 

 dorsally and larger ventrally. This enumeration can be made with 

 a considerable degree of accuracy in the species with large scales, at 

 least, if the specimens are held at the proper angle to sight along 

 the rows, magnification generally being unnecessary. The vertical 

 rows usually are more distinct than the oblique ones on the trunk, 

 but become so indistinct on the tail that their enumeration is not 

 practical. The number of modified scales on the back, in front of 

 the dorsal, includes only those that have a free lateral edge. As 

 these scales are not fully developed until a fairly large size is attained 

 it is advisable to use adult fish only for this enumeration, as explained 

 subsequently. The serrations and pectinations of the scales are flexible 

 (not spiny) in Brevoortia, and they are of unequal length in the dif- 

 ferent species (see fig. 8) ; therefore they are often useful in deter- 

 mining species. It is necessary, however, to compare scales from 

 specimens of about equal size, as the pectinations increase in length 

 with age. It is necessary, furthermore, to compare scales from the 

 same part of the body. The scales illustrated in figure 8, for example, 

 were all taken from the middle of the side below the anterior rays of 

 the dorsal. 



An attempt was made to count the abdominal and caudal vertebrae 

 separately. However, so much difficulty was met that the separation 

 was abandoned and only the total number of vertebrae is given in the 

 descriptions. 



