650 FISHES. 



are the " Poisson bleu " of the Canadian voyageurs {Th. sig- 

 nifer), and the European Grayling {T. vulgaris). 



Salanx. — Body elongate, compressed, naked or covered with 

 small, exceedingly fine, deciduous scales. Head elongate and 

 much depressed, terminating in a long, flat, pointed snout. Eye 

 small. Cleft of the mouth wide ; jaws and palatine bones with 

 conical teeth, some of the intermaxillaries and mandibles being 

 enlarged ; no teeth on the vomer ; tongue with a single series 

 of curved teeth. Dorsal fin placed far behind tlie ventrals, but 

 in front of the anal ; anal long ; adipose fin small ; caudal forked. 

 Pseudobranchise well developed ; air-bladder none. The entire 

 alimentary canal straight, without bend ; pyloric appendages 

 none. Ova small. 



This small, transparent, or whitish fish {S. chinensis) is well 

 known at Canton and other places of the coast of China as 

 " "Whitebait," and considered a delicacy. It is evidently a fish 

 which lives at a considerable depth in the sea, and approaches 

 the coast only at certain seasons. 



Finally, this family is represented in the deep sea by three 

 genera, Argentina, Microstoma, and Bathylagus, of •■which the 

 two former live at moderate depths, and have been known for 

 a long time, whilst the last was discovered during the " Chal- 

 lenger " expedition in the Atlantic and Antarctic Oceans at 

 depths of 1950 and 2040 fathoms. As Argentina is sometimes 

 found in the ISTorth Atlantic, and even near the British coasts, 

 we give its principal characters. 



Argentina. — Scales rather large ; cleft of the mouth small ; 

 intermaxillaries and maxillaries very short, not extending to 

 below the orbit. Eye large. Jaws without teeth ; an arched 

 series of minute teeth across the head of the vomer and on the 

 fore part of the palatines ; tongue armed with a series of small 

 curved teeth on each side. Dorsal fin short, in advance of the 

 ventrals ; caudal deeply forked. Pseudobranchise well developed. 

 Pyloric appendages in moderate numbers. Ova small. 



Pour species are known, of which ^. silus and^. hehridica 



