306 Notes on Some Fishes of the Coast of California. [May, 
given by Günther. The inter-mandibular space agrees pretty 
well with Giinther’s figure of that of M. cephalotus, but it is still 
nearer to Steindachner’s figure of M. mexicanus. As this is a 
mullet, it is of course tolerably good eating, but it must be re- 
membered that it is not nearly related to those famous delicate 
fishes, the red mullet and the surmullet, which were so highly 
prized by the Romans that they fed them in aquaria, but to the 
gray mullet. The first-mentioned fishes belong to the Mullide, 
and are provided with a barbel, the latter and our Californian 
fish to the Mugilide, which has no barbel and no teeth worth 
speaking of. 
Brosmophycis marginatus Ayres.—This is a very rare species, 
so much so that although it is taken in the bay of San Francisco, 
I have as yet seen only a single specimen, and Mr. Johnson, of 
the California market, whose practical knowledge of fishes can be 
safely relied upon, informs me that in the three years that have 
elapsed since he first noticed it, he has only seen three indi- 
viduals. Marginatus is a very good name for the fish, as the 
long fin which encircles the greater half of the body, undivided 
into dorsal, anal and caudal fins, is of a vivid red in the fresh 
fish, and forms a most conspicuous margin. The exudation 
of mucus from the surface of the skin is most abundant, rapidly 
forming an epidermal covering, and it is therefore no wonder 
that my friend Mr.-Johnson characterized it as a kind of eel. 
In thus naming it he was not so very far off after all, since the 
family Ophidiide, to which it has been referred by Dr. Günther, 
is in many respects intermediate between the Gadide, or cod 
tribe, in which it was originally placed by Dr. Ayres (under the 
name of Brosmius marginatus), and the Murenide, or eel tribe. 
As it has hitherto had no English name, I venture to call it the 
red-fin, on account of its most obvious peculiarity. The family 
Ophidiide contains some species of parasitic habits, vertebrates 
parasitic upon invertebrates, a strange inversion of our ordinary 
experience. ; 
Smelts—Several species of fish are commonly sold in this city 
under the collective name of “smelt.” The species usually met 
with are Atherinopsis californiensis (Girard), A. affinis (Ayres), Hy- 
pomesus olidus (Pallas) Gill, and O. smerus thaleichthys (Ayres). 
The two last of these are Salmonoids, and therefore have a 
right to the name of smelt, but the two former belong to a very . 
X 
