THE FISHES OF NEW JERSEY. 339 



Sides yellowish-silvery with 6 or 7 broad dark vertical bars 

 between head and tail. Dorsal and caudal dusky towards their 

 borders, and spinous dorsal quite dark. Pectoral colorless. Ven- 

 tral and anal yellow. Beesley's Point. (Baird.) 



As our only representative of the croakers with large pharyn- 

 geals below completely united and covered with coarse blunt 

 paved teeth (Aplodinotince) this fish is easily distinguished. 



As a food-fish it is rather coarse, and the flesh is of no great 

 value. They reach a large size and weigh as much as 146 pounds. 

 Large examples were found at Stone Harbor. 



Pogonias chromis xAbbott, Geol. N. J., 1868, p. 811. — Bean, 

 Bull. U. S. F. Com., VH, 1887, p. 141. 



Pogonias croniis Moore, Bull. U. S. F. Com., XH, 1892, p. 

 362.— Smith, Bull. U. S. F. Com., XH, 1892, p. 378. 



Pogonias fasciatus Baird, 9th An. Rep. Smiths. Inst., 1854, p. 

 332. — Abbott, 1. c. 



Family LATILID^. 



The Blanquillos. 



Body more or less elongate, fusiform or compressed. Head 

 subconical, anterior profile usually convex. Mouth rather ter- 

 minal, little oblique. Teeth rather strong. No teeth on vomer 

 or palatines. Premaxillar}^ usually with a blunt posterior canine, 

 somewhat as in Labridce. Premaxillaries protractile. Maxillary 

 without supplemental bone, not slipping under edge of preorbital. 

 Suborbital without bon}^ stay. Bones not greatly developed. 

 Cranial bones not cavernous. Opercular bones mostly unarmed. 

 A'^ertebras in normal or slightly increased number (24 to 30). 

 Gill-membranes separate, or more or less united, often adherent 

 to isthmus. Gills 4, a long slit behind fourth. Pseudobranchiae 

 well developed. Lower pharyngeals separate. Pyloric coeca few 

 or none. Scales small, ctenoid. Lateral line present, complete, 

 more or less concurrent with back. Dorsal fin long and low. 

 usually continuous, spinous portion always much less developed 

 than soft portion, but never obsolete. Anal fin very long, its 

 spines feeble and few. Caudal fin forked, tail deeply diphycercal. 



