64 HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS^ 



Pelamj/s sarda, Skip- Jack, Stoker, Report, p. 49. 



» " Striped Bonito, Dekay, Report, p. 106, pi. 9, % 27. 

 « " Stores, Mem. Amer. Acad., New Series, ii. p. 343. 

 " " StoeeEj Synopsis, p. 91. 



Color. The head and the upper part of the bodj are of a greenish- brown color; the 

 sides are lighter, the abdomen of a silvery white. From ten to twenty dark-bluish bands 

 pass obliquely downwards and forwards from the dorsum towards the abdomen ; the first 

 of these bands commences at the posterior extremity of the first dorsal fin ; the last arises 

 at the commencement of the caudal fin ; several of these bands pass very low down upon 

 the sides, almost reaching the abdomen. Besides these^ several indistinct lighter-colored 

 hands cross the body transversely. The gill-covers are silvery, marked with fuliginous. 

 The pupils are black ; the irides silvery. The first dorsal fin is of a light color, with 

 dull patches. The pectorals are of a dark color above, and lighter beneath. The anal 

 fin is white, with fuliginous. The caudal fin is of a dirty bluish color. 



Description. The body is oblong, compressed, perfectly smooth. The scales are 

 exceedingly minute, with the exception of a large triangular patch of larger scales, situ- 

 atedba ck of the opercles, in the middle of which are the pectoral fins. Several series 

 of longitudinally arranged scales are situated on each side of the dorsum, running the 

 whole length of the first do rsal fin. 



The lateral line arises high up on the back, and pursues an undulatory course till it 

 reaches a line opposite the anterior third of the anal fin, whence it is continued in a 

 straight line to the tail. 



The length of the head, which is destitute of scales, is less than one fifth the whole 

 length of the fish. The jaws are equal. The jaws and palatine bones have each a single 

 row of sharp, recurved, prominent teeth ; upon the middle of the lower jaw are four teeth, 

 the anterior two quite small, the posterior two the largest in the jaws ; the palatine bones 

 are very small The gape of the mouth is large. Eyes circular. Diameter of eye 

 about a sixth the length of the head. 



The first dorsal fin commences on a line over the origin of the pectorals ; its second 

 and third rays are longest ; the posterior rays are very short ; the whole fin, when unex- 

 panded, is concealed in a groove at its base. It is continued almost to the origin of the 

 second dorsal. 



The second dorsal is nearly triangular, emarginated posteriorly ; its posterior portion 

 is slightly tufted like the commencement of finlets ; back of this fin are eight finlets, the 

 posterior of which are the smallest. 



The pectoral fins arise just back of the operculum. The fan-shaped ventrals are just 

 back of the origin of the pectorals ; when unexpanded, these fins shut into a depression 

 on the abdomen. 



