130 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Genus III. — Pammelas, GiintJier. 



Palinurus, De Kay : Palinurichthys, Gill. 



Branchiostegals seven. Body oblong and rather compressed. Snout obtuse and 

 sivollen. Gape of mouth of moderate width : pre- inter- and siob-opercles serrated. 

 Teeth in jaivs in a single row : none on the palate or tongue. Two dorsal fins, 

 the first consisting of six or seven free spines : anal with three spines, the first 

 two being concealed by being nearly imbedded in the flesh. No finlets. Scales small, 

 ctenoid, and extended over the bases of the vertical fins. Air-bladder divided by a 

 constriction into two parts. 



Geographical distribution. — Western coast of North America. A straggler 

 has been taken off Cornwall, bnt in a manner which raises a question whether 

 it ought or ought not to be included amongst the British fishes. 



1. Pammelas perciformis, Plate XLVI. 



Rudder-fish or Perch coryphene, Mitchill, Lit. and Phil. Soc. New York, i, 

 pi. xvi, f. 7 (no description). 



Coryphcena perciformis, Mitchill, Amer. Monthly Mag. ii, p. 244. 



Trachinotus argenteus, Storer, Mass. Report, p. 55 (not Cuv.) 



Palinurus perciformis, De Kay, New York Fauna, Fishes, p. 118, pi. xxiv, f. 25. 



Pammelas perciformis, Gunther, Catal. ii, p. 485. 



Palinurichthys perciformis, Gill, Report Amer. Fisheries, 1873, p. 804. 



Pimelepterus Gornubiensis, T. Cornish, Zoologist (2), ix, 1874, p. 4255. 



B. vii, D. 6-7/^\, P. 23, V. 1/5, A. 2/^1^, C. 21, L. 1. 78, L. tr. 12/30. 



Length of head 4, of caudal fin 6, height of body 3 to 3| in the total length. 

 Eye — diameter 4j in the length of the head, li from the end of the snout, and 

 1^ apart. Body elliptical and compressed. Preopercle finely serrated along the 

 lower portion of its vertical limb, angle, and inferior limb : also on sub- and 

 inter-opercles. Lower jaw slightly the longer : the maxilla reaches posteriorly 

 to beneath the middle of the eye. The greatest depth of the body is below 

 the commencement of the second dorsal fin. Teeth — in either jaw in a single 

 row of equally sized ones placed a short distance asunder : none on the vomer, 

 palatines, or tongue. Pins — the first dorsal, consisting of free spines, commences 

 above the opercle : the length of the base of the second dorsal equals about one- 

 third of that of the total length of the fish, it is low, the height of its rays scarcely 

 exceeding one-fifth of the height of the body, and all of nearly equal length. Anal 

 commences under the first third of the second dorsal, and is similar to it. Pectoral 

 short, equalling the length of the head excluding the snout : ventral slightly 

 shorter : caudal emarginate, or slightly lobed. Scales — small, ctenoid, covering 

 the bases of the vertical fins : some also present on the cheeks and opercles. 

 Lateral-line— makes a gradual curve in its anterior two-fifths, becoming straight 

 from above the commencement of the anal fin. Colours — leaden, shot with 

 pnrple over the back, occasionally becoming lighter on the abdomen. Head 

 mottled with dark bluish spots, a row of them in the Cornish example being 

 disposed round the upper and hinder part of the eye. 



Names. — De Kay observes that it was termed Trachinotus Cuviberlandi by 

 Cozzens in a paper read before the Lyceum. De Kay calls it the black pilot, 

 while the fishermen's name is Snip-nosed-mullet. 



Habits. — De Kay observes that this fish is an occasional visitor to the shores 

 of New York, where in 1815 several dozens followed a ship into the harbour, and 

 one was captured by a hook at the wharves in the month of August. It is said 

 to be exceedingly active, while numerous shrimps were present in the stomach of 

 one which was opened. In the British example barnacles were found in its 

 stomach. 



Habitat. — Is found on the east coast of America from Maine to Cape Hatteras. 



