GARPIKE. 
349 
Here, as in the Mackerels, the pointed shape of the 
fins indicates a capacity of swift motion and sudden 
changes in its direction. The pectoral tins are set high, 
almost vertically, and obliquely pointed. Their length, 
which at the end of the strictly juvenile changes of 
growth is about equal to the length of the postorbital 
part of the head, subsequently shows relative diminution, 
but still measures about 90 % (sometimes 80 %) thereof. 
The distance between the front end of the insertion of 
these tins and that of the ventral tins is from about 5 to 
5 2 / 3 times the length of the former. They contain 13 rays, 
the uppermost of which is the longest or equal in length 
to the second ray, undivided and compressed like a 
sabre. This is also true of the first ray in the ventral 
tins, which are also pointed". The length of these tins is 
about equal to the height of the dorsal tin. They are 
moved forward during growth, the distance between 
them and the tip of the lower jaw decreasing in pro- 
portion to the length of the body, while on the other 
hand, the distance between them and the beginning of 
the anal tin increases. At the end of the true juvenile 
changes of growth the former distance is nearly 2 / 3 
of the length of the body, but in specimens 7 or 8 dm. 
long only about 60 % thereof. The latter distance si- 
multaneously increases from about 11 % to 14 or 15 % 
of the length of the body. The dorsal and anal tins 
are almost alike in shape; but the former is always 
somewhat shorter and lower than the latter, and the 
distance between its beginning and the vertical line from 
the beginning of the anal tin is generally about equal 
to that between its termination and the vertical line 
from the end of the latter. The distance between the 
dorsal tin and the tip of the lower jaw varies, after the 
end of the juvenile changes, between 79 and 75 % of 
the length of the body. The distance between its end 
and the beginning of the caudal tin is somewhat greater 
than the length of the pectoral tins, varying between 
about 64 and about 52 % of the length of the tin itself. 
This is due to the fact that the length of its base un- 
dergoes even relative increase from about 11 % to about 
13 % of that of the body. The first two rays are un- 
divided, the second being about twice as long as the 
first, and the longest in the whole fin. The pointed 
lobe at the beginning of the fin, the height of which 
is generally equal to the length of the ventral fins, is 
formed by the first six rays; the other rays are gener- 
ally of uniform height, though a slight elongation may 
be observed in the middle ones. This is never so mark- 
ed, however, as the posterior elevation of the dorsal 
fin in the Mediterranean Bamphistoma imperiale ( Can - 
trainii). On account of the changes of growth in the 
dorsal fin the beginning of the anal fin may sometimes lie 
vertically below that of the dorsal fin, as in our largest 
specimen; but the base of the anal fin is always longer 
than that of the dorsal, varying between about 1 2 1 / 2 % and 
about 14 % of the length of the body, and the distance 
between it and the caudal fin is less than the length 
of the pectoral fins. In adult specimens the caudal fin 
is deeply forked, with pointed lobes, the length of which 
is about Vio or 7u °f that of the body. The extreme 
end of each lobe is formed by the outermost branched 
ray, which in full-grown specimens, however, is hardly 
any longer than the longest (hindmost) supporting ray. 
We have always found the number of branched rays 
in the caudal fin to be 13*. The vent, which is situated 
just in front of the anal fin, is noticeable for its some- 
what considerable size. 
The scales of the body are very thin and for the 
most part deciduous; but on the back and head they 
are hard to detach, and extend forward over the nasal 
region and the base of the upper surface of the inter- 
maxillary bones. Even on the preorbital bones small 
scales may be found, and on the cheeks and opercula 
they are distinct. On these parts of the body, however, 
all the scales are small; but on the ventral sides, in- 
terspersed among the small scales, we find larger ones, 
almost thrice the size of the former and serving as a kind 
of foundation for them. The vertical diameter of these 
large scales is greater than the longitudinal, sometimes 
twice as great, and sometimes measures as much as half 
the longitudinal diameter of the eye. Their structure 
is the same, however, as that of the small scales: they 
are thin and transparent, with distinct, concentric rings 
formed during growth, but without radiating striae or 
curves. The scales in the rows which coast the lateral 
line are somewhat thicker and curved, while those of the 
lateral line itself are pierced in the usual manner. Where 
this line runs on each side along the belly, rising slightly 
a Among the five branched rays in these fins the inner ones, in particular, have a well-developed dermal fold between them; and as a 
similar fold also follows the inner side of the innermost ray, we may easily fall into the error sometimes committed, of stating the number 
of these rays at 6 instead of 5. 
6 According to Lilljeborg the number of these rays is 14 , according to Day 13 or 14 , and according to KR0YER 17 . Ekstrom gives 13 . 
