ELOPS. — MEGALOPS. 



2» 



scaly process above ventral, 20-22 round caudal peduncle. Silvery, 

 blackish or bluish on the back ; dorsal, and sometimes also anal, with a 

 blackish distal spot. 



Fig. 18. 



Elops lacerta. 

 Congo (A. M. C). i 



Total length 560 millim. 



Ascending rivers of West Africa. — Type, in Paris Museum, 

 examined. 



1-4. Hgr. & yg. St. Louis, Senegal. M. P. Delhez (C). 



5-6. Ad. Gambia. J. S. Budgett, Esq. (C). 



7. Skel. „ „ 



8. Hgr. Benito River. G. L. Bates, Esq. (G). 



9. Yg. Gaboon. 



10. Ad. Banana, Congo. M. P. Delhez (G). 



2. MEGALOPS. 

 Lacep. Hist. Poiss. v. p. 289 (1803) ; Giinth. Cat. Fish. vii. p. 471 (1868) ; 



Bleek. Atl. Ichth. vi. p. 85 (1872). 

 Tarpon, Jord. & Everm. Fish. N. Amer. i. p. 409 (1896). 



Body moderately elongate, strongly compressed. Scales large, thick ; 

 lateral line straight, with branched tubes. Mouth very large, the 

 prsemaxillary and maxillary with bands of small villiform teeth ; similar 

 teeth on the vomer, palatines, pterygoids, and tongue. Dorsal fin 

 inserted above or a little behind the ventrals, a little longer than the 

 anal, its last ray more or less produced. Ventral fins with 10 or 11 rays. 

 A scaly process above the base of the pectoral and another above the 

 ventral. Branchiostegal rays 22 to 26. No pseudobranchise. 



Tropical seas, entering rivers. One species from the Atlantic, 

 another from the Indian Ocean and the south-western parts of the 

 Pacific. 



