FISHES. ;[91 



two, the GoryphoBua equisetis and Coryphcena hippurus, occur occasionally along the 

 eastern coasts of the United States. 



Certain fishes forming the family Steomateid^ have been generally placed next 

 to the Coryphsenidse and the Carangidae, although in fact they are not very closely 

 related. The species of Stromateids vary in form, but the typical ones are longitudi- 

 nally oval or pyriform in shape ; they have a single long dorsal fin, with a few spines 

 in front. The ventrals are generally under the bases of the pectoral, but in the prin- 

 cipal forms they become more or less atrophied, or even lost entirely, in the adults. 

 The chief character is the development of the rakers on the last branchial arch ; these 

 become more or less sac-like in appearance, and extend backwards into the cesophagus. 



One of the principal members of the family is the species known in Massachusetts 

 and New York as the butter-fish, in New Jersey as the harvest-fish, and in Maine as 

 the dollar-fish. Its scientific name is Stromateus (or Poronotus) triacanthus. The 

 name butter-fish is given in allusion to the smooth surface reminding one of the feel 

 of butter ; harvest-fish alludes to the time of its approach to the coast ; and dollar-fish 

 has reference to the roundish form and silvery hue. It is moderately esteemed as a 

 food fish, and resembles mackerel in taste, but is less oily. 



Along the Californian coast, a species related to the butter-fish of the east is found, 

 and has been named Stromateus simillimus. In the San Francisco market it is 

 known as the pompano, although it belongs to a different family from the true pom- 

 pano of the east coast. It is very highly esteemed. 



Another of the StromateidfB worthy of mention is a species known as rudder-fish, 

 log-fish, and barrel-fish ; the scientific name is Lirus perciformis. This species is 

 more oblong than the ones just described, and is of a blackish color. The preopercu- 

 lum is radiatedly festooned around the margin,, and the spines of the dorsal fins are 

 well marked and set off, indeed, as a distinct portion of the fin. In the words of Mr. 

 Goode, "the habits are peculiar in the extreme. They are most always found in the 

 vicinity of floating barrels and spars, and sometimes inside of the barrels. Hence the 

 fishermen call them barrel-fish, though the most usual name is rudder-fish. The last 

 name has been evidently given by the sailors, because they are often found swimming 

 about the sterns of the becalmed vessels. The fish attains a length of ten or twelve 

 inches, and its flesh is quite savory." 



Passing by other fishes of little or no economical importance, we reach the family 

 of the ScoMBEiD^, or mackerels. The shape of all the species is fusiform, or more or 

 less elongated ; there is an independent spinous dorsal fin which is generally well 

 developed and about as long as the second ; but sometimes, as in the common mackerels, 

 it is short; there is then a long interspace between it and the second fin; the last 

 rays of the latter are almost always separated and developed as so many finlets. 

 The anal fin answers to the second dorsal, and has also its last rays detached as finlets 

 in the same way as the opposite fin. The upper jaw is connected with the main pai-t 

 of the head above by a continuous skin, and the maxillary bones fit in neatly on the 

 sides, as if the skin and flesh had been cut out especially for their reception. The 

 vertebrae are more numerous than in any of the preceding forms. 



The true mackerels, constituting the genus Scomber, have the first dorsal short, 

 distended by only nine to twelve spines, and very remote from the second ; there are 

 five finlets above and below ; the vomer and palatines have small teeth, and the corse- 

 let is feebly developed or wanting. Three representatives of this genus are found in 

 the northern Atlantic, and occur more or less frequently on the coasts of America. 



