354 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
old specimens, these fins are no longer than the ventral 
fins. The dorsal and the anal fins are both set farther 
forward than in the Garpike", and are both lower and 
shorter, being also without the pointed prolongation in 
front. As a rule, the anal fin is somewhat, though 
only slightly, the longer; but the difference is so small 
that we may sometimes reckon the length of each of 
these fins as equal to that of the postorbital part of 
the head. The difference may sometimes be increased, 
however, by the circumstance that the first finlet be- 
hind either of these fins still preserves the appearance 
of a posterior part of the fin, not being separated from 
it. Just as in the Garpike, the posterior rays of these 
fins are rather widely separated from each other; but 
the first ray — a difference of no slight importance — 
in addition to being the only simple ray in the fin, is 
also unarticulated, thus being a true spinous ray. The 
caudal fin is deeply forked, and at the middle of its 
base the dermal covering extends so far out over the 
middle rays that only their branches are visible, a re- 
sult of this being that the number of rays in this fin 
has sometimes been stated to be considerably greater 
than is really the case. The number of the branched 
rays seems to be 12 * 6 or 13, the latter probably being 
the normal number in this species as in the Garpike. 
The ventral fins occupy about the same position in the 
abdominal region 0 as in the Garpike; but as the relative 
length of both the abdominal partf and the head is 
somewhat less than in the latter species, the ventral 
fins, as well as the dorsal and anal fins, assume a more 
forward position on the body 0 . The vent is not so 
large or so prominent as in the Garpike; but here too, 
in a triangular cavity behind it, we sometimes find 
(in the males?) a small genital papilla. The scales are 
of the same thin texture as in the Garpike and are 
also deciduous, being larger on the lower portion of 
the sides than on the upper, but of more uniform size 
than in the preceding species. As the belly is much more 
compressed underneath than in the Garpike, the two lat- 
eral lines are much nearer each other: with this ex- 
ception the course of these lines is the same, ending 
at the second or third of the anal finlets, countino- 
7 c* 
from behind. 
The changes of development undergone by the 
Saury are essentially the same as those of the Garpike, 
but of much later occurrence. The clearest illustration 
of this is given by the above figures borrowed from 
Lutken. The original of fig. c ( Scombresox , p. 346) 
was about twice as long as that of fig. />' ( Ramphi- 
stoma ), of fig. d ( Scombresox ) about equal in length to 
that of fig. y (Ramphistoma). The Hemiramphus stage 
is thus persistent for a much longer period in the Saury 
than in the Garpike. On the other hand we find that, 
when once the elongation of the jaws lias begun, the 
difference in their length is never so great as in the 
latter species. 
The Saury Pike is a more pelagic fish than the 
Garpike, and a surface fish of a still more distinct 
character. It is at the surface that it spawns and 
passes its time, leaping or even flying still more like 
a Flying-fish than the Garpike. In the Tropical and 
Temperate Zones its range extends all round the world: 
it has long been known in the Mediterranean and the 
Atlantic; Lutken has shown that it occurs in the In- 
dian Ocean; according to Jordan and Gilbert it is 
fairly common on both sides of North America; Ny- 
strom has found it among the collection of Japanese 
fishes in Upsala Museum. Like the Garpike, however, 
when it approaches the coast, it sometimes enters the 
harbours and the mouths of rivers. It makes annual 
visits to the English coast, but probably not for pur- 
poses of reproduction, for the spawning apparently takes 
place in the open sea, where the fry have been found 
in large numbers. It arrives off the English coast, 
according to Couch, at the beginning of summer, and 
departs at about the middle of autumn or even as late 
as the end of November. “The Skippers,” says Couch, 
“are followed and persecuted by the Porpoise, and the 
more swift and energetic Tunny and Bonito, which 
appear to devour many of them; and in their eager- 
ness to escape multitudes are seen to mount to the 
surface, to which the particular construction of the 
a The distance between these fins and -the tip of the lower jaw is between about 70 and 72 / of the length of the body. 
6 Moreau and Day state the number of true rays in the caudal fin at 14, i. e. excluding the two outermost, which are undivided, 
12 branched caudal rays. The author, like Lilejeborg, finds the number of the branched rays to be 13. 
c Somewhat behind the end of the second third of the abdominal region. 
d We have found the length of the abdominal region in Ramphistoma helone to vary between about 46 and 49 % of that of the 
body, and in Scombresox saurus between about 40 and 43 % thereof. 
e The distance between the ventral fins and the tip of the lower jaw, in the specimens we have examined, has never been as much 
as 59 % of the length of the body. 
