Miscellaneous Fishes 361 



inhabiting the warm seas of both continents. 

 They have been known to science for a century 

 and a half, and have been described by many 

 naturalists from different parts of the world. The 

 current specific names were both bestowed by 

 Linnaeus. Catesby, in 1837, called the lady-fish 

 {Albula vulpes) of the Bahamas " bone-fish," while 

 Captain William Dampier, one of the early ex- 

 plorers, called the bony-fish {Elops saurus) of the 

 Bahamas "ten-pounder." The fishermen of Key 

 West usually know the lady-fish as bone-fish, and 

 the ten-pounder as bony-fish. The best plan for 

 anglers is to adopt the names lady-fish and ten- 

 pounder for them, and relegate or ignore the 

 names bone-fish, bony-fish, and skip-jack. 



THE TEN-POUNDEH 



{Elops saurus) 



Elops saurus. The Ten-pounder. Body elongate, covered with 

 small, silvery scales ; head 4J ; depth 6 ; eye 4, large ; scales 

 12-120-13 ; D. 20 ; A. 13 ; dorsal fin slightly behind ventrals, 

 its last rays short, depressible into a sheath of scales ; anal fin 

 smaller, similarly depressible ; pectoral and ventral fins moder- 

 ate, each with a long, accessory scale ; opercular bones thin, with 

 expanded membraneous borders ; a scaly occipital collar ; gular 

 plate 3 to 4 times as long as broad; pseudobranchise large; 

 lateral line straight, its tubes simple. 



The ten-pounder, or bony-fish, belongs to the 

 same family, Elopidcs, as the tarpon, and both are 



