308 Notes on Some Fishes of the Coast of California. [May, 
herring of the Atlantic. Its dimensions are about the same as 
those of the preceding species, but the mouth is very small, the 
end of the maxillary bone reaching only level with the front of 
the eye, while in O. thaleichthys it reaches to the back of the 
orbit. The head also is somewhat smaller. But this fish, when 
fresh, can be most readily distinguished by the transparency of 
its flesh, which, of course, disappears entirely in preserved speci- 
mens. The silvery band along the sides, which is found in all 
the four species, and is probably the cause of their being grouped 
together as smelts, is particularly bright in this fish. 
I have not yet been able to ascertain at what season each of 
these species may be most common, but all are abundant in the 
markets throughout October, November and December. 
Albula vulpes (Albula conorhynchus Ginthr., Cat. Fish. Brit. 
Mus., vit, 468).—This widely distributed species has been found 
at various points along the Pacific coast of North America. Giin- 
ther (Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. vit, 469) mentions its occurrence on 
the coast of Central America; Steindachner (Sitz. Ak. Wiss. 
Wien., 1875, 61) incidentally states (in his description of Mugil 
brasiliensis) that it is found at San Diego; in the same year I 
received two specimens from Lower California, probably from 
Magdalena bay, as the fishes accompanying it came from that 
place; and lastly, in September, 1878, several specimens were 
brought to the markets of San Francisco. The fishmongers 
could not tell the exact locality from which these individuals 
were brought; but as few, if any, marine fishes find their way to 
our markets from points south of Monterey bay, and as that bay 
is frequented by many other fishes which are not found, except 
as stragglers, to the northward of it, I think it probable they 
came from thence. 
The specimens from Magdalena bay (Lockt. Proc. Cal. Ac., 
1876, 83) were most beautiful in their coloration, glowing with 
burnished silver below, deepening to gold upon the sides, and to 
darker metallic tints on the back; but those found in the markets 
this year were uniform silvery, as described by Günther. © 
By a typographical error in my Notes on Californian Marine 
Fishes (loc. cit., p. 84), the length of the example from Lower 
California is given as 3/’.7 instead of 1’-3'’.7. Those brought to 
market this year were only partly grown. The question arises 
whether the metallic colors are confined to the adults, or are the 
result of peculiarities in the environment. 
