FAMILY, XVI— CARANGIM3. 229 



included Nauclerus amongst the Carangidce. Gill and Kner distinctly proved Nauclerus to be the young of 

 Naucrates, in which, the authors of the " Fishes of Zanzibar," p. 63, acquiesced and referred the Genus to 

 Carangidce* 



Habitat. — These " pilot fishes" are spread through all the seas of temperate and tropical regions. Most 

 travellers in sailing vessels have seen them as close attendants upon sharks, leading them, as the sailors consider, 

 to their prey. 



SYNOPSIS OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



1. Naucrates ductor, D. 3-6 | ^Ve, A. 0-2 | Te-TT- Five to seven broad bluish vertical bands on the body. 



1. Naucrates ductor, Plate LI, A. fig. 2. 



Gasterosteus ductor, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 489 ; Brun. Pise. Mass. p. 67 ; Bennett, Whaling Voyage, ii, 

 p. 274. 



Gasterosteus antecessor, Dald. Skrivt. Nat. Selsk. Kjob. ii, p. 166. 



Scomber ductor, Bl. t. 338 ; Hasselq. Iter, p. 336 ; Mitchell, Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. New York, i, 

 p. 424. 



Scomber Koelreuteri, Bl. Schn. p. 570. 



Centronotus conductor, Lacep. iii, p. 311 ; Risso. Ich. Nice, p. 428, and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 193 ; Conch. 

 Trans. Linn. Soc. xiv, p. 82. 



Naucrates ductor, Cuv. and Val. viii, p. 312, pi. 232 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish, i, p. 170 ; Guichen, Exp. Alger. 

 Poiss. p. 60; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 374; Klunz. Verh. z. b. Ges. Wien, 1871, p. 445. 



Naucrates Noveboracensis, Cuv. and Val. viii, p. 325. 



Naucrates Indicus, Cuv. and Val. viii, p. 326 ; Cuv. Beg. Anim. 111. Poiss. pi. 54, f. 1 ; Less. Voy. Coq. 

 Zool. Poiss. p. 157, pi. xiv; Richards. Ich. China, p. 269 ; Kner, Novara Fische, p. 145. 



Naucrates Koelreuteri, Cuv. and Val. viii, 327. 



Nauclerus compressus, Cuv. and Val. ix, p. 249, pi. 263 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 469 (J young"). 



Thynnus pompilus, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 123. 



B. vii, D. 3-6 | ^Vg-, P. 21, V. 1/5, A. 0-2 | -^1^, C. 17, Cebc. pyl. 12-15, Vert. 10/16. 



Length of head 1^- to 2/9, of pectoral 1/8, of caudal 2/11, height of body 1/4 to 2/9 of the total length. 

 Eyes — diameter 1/5 of length of head, If diameters from end of snout. The greatest width of the head equals 

 3/5 of its length, and its height equals its length behind the posterior nostril. The maxilla extends to below the 

 anterior edge of the orbit. Teeth — villiform in jaws, in a pyrifbrm band on vomer, and a long patch on the 

 palatines, tongue rough. Fins — first dorsal spine short, second dorsal highest anteriorly, anal commences under 

 the middle of the second dorsal. Pectoral as long as the ventral, which reaches 2/5 of way to the base of the 

 anal. Caudal deeply forked. Scales — cycloid. Lateral-line — a little raised on the side of the tail. Colours — 

 bluish, with five or six dark vertical bands : caudal sometimes with the ends of the lobes white, and having a 

 dark band across their last third. Basal half of anal and centre of dorsal dark gray. 



Nauclerus abbreviatus, C.V. Lowe, Giinther : N. brachycentrus, triacanthus, annularis, and leucurus, C.V. 

 and Giinther, are all probably young of this or closely allied species, having two pre-anal spines, and a more or 

 less serrated preopercle, &c. 



Habitat. — Seas of temperate and tropical regions. A specimen 7 inches long of the " pilot fish" is in the 

 Calcutta Museum, taken in the Indian Ocean by J. Hart, Esq., of the " Inflexible." 



Genus, 6— Chokinemtjs, Cuv. and Val. 



Scomberoides, Lacep. 



Branchiostegals seven or eight : pseudobranchice. Body oblong and compressed. Eyes lateral. Cleft of mouth 

 ■moderate or deep. Teeth in jaws, also present on vomer, palatines, and tongue. Two dorsal fins, the first (preceded 

 by an immoveable, recumbent spine, directed forwards) has a groove at its base for its reception, it is formed by a 

 few free spines, but m a less number than the rays of the second dorsal or anal, the posterior rays of both of which last 

 are either detached or semi-detached ; a pair of pre-anal spines separated by an interspace from the remainder of the 

 fin. Dermal scales mostly lanceolate. Lateral-line continuous, not heeled. Air-vessel bifurcated posteriorly. Pyloric 

 appendages numerous. 



Geographical distribution. — Red Sea, seas of India to the Malay Archipelago : also found in tropical 

 parts of the Atlantic. 



Although this Genus is as a rule marine, the young ascend estuaries and tidal rivers, and it is not 

 uncommon to find them in the Hoogly at Calcutta. As food they are dry and rather tasteless, in this respect 

 resembling Trachynotus. 



* " A second question arises, whether Naucrates should be referred to Scombridce or Carangidce. The two anal spines of the 

 young are separate from the soft portion : and although the number of caudal vertebrae is increased by two, yet the number of 

 abdominal vertebrae remains the same : we are therefore inclined to remove this genus from the Scombridce to the Carangidce." (Fish. 

 Zanz. p. 63. J Bleeker in the Family Liciioidei includes Naucrates, Chorineimis, Trachynotus, and Elacate. 



