150 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
from posterior margin of eye and base of caudal; pectoral fins moderate, the upper rays longest, 
5.25 in head. 
Color of preserved specimen brownish above; sides silvery; pale underneath; ventral surface 
of head white; no bands on back or sides; dorsal largely black, the anterior part yellowish at base; 
caudal, anal, and ventrals mostly plain translucent, with more or less dusky, at least on the outer 
or anterior rays; pectoral fins largely black, only the base and the lower rays yellowish. The general 
color of the back is greenish in life. 
A single specimen, 830 millimeters (32% inches) in length, occurs in the collection. In addi- 
tion, a fish 32 inches in length, in a poor state of preservation, and which was thrown away by fisher- 
men, was found on the shores at Buckroe Beach. This fish was colored blue along the back. The 
species of this genus are not all well known and the identification is more or less tentative. This dis- 
position of the species is based mainly upon the long snout, the round, sharply pointed teeth, the 
small scales, the length of the dorsal fin, and the position of the ventral fins. This species is readily 
separated from the common garfish of Chesapeake Bay by the longer dorsal fin, the more deeply 
forked tail, and the absence of dark lateral and vertebral bands. 
This gar appears to be a West Indian species that occasionally strays northward. In Chesa- 
peake Bay it occurs only as a straggler and has no commercial importance. It reaches a length of 
4J£ feet. 
Habitat . — Massachusetts to the West Indies; also said to occur in the Mediterranean. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: None. ( b ) Specimens in collection or observed 
in the field: Lynnhaven Roads, June 8, 1916, pound net; Buckroe Beach, Va., June 21, 1921, 
found on beach. 
This genus differs from Tylosurus chiefly in the compressed body. 
67. Ablennes hians (Cuvier and Valenciennes). Garfish; Needlefish; “Silver gar”; “Silver 
Bclone hians Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XVIII, 1846, p. 432; Havana, Bahia. 
Athlennes hians Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 718. 
Head 3.1 to 3.8; depth 15.9 to 16.5; D. 24; A. 25 or 26. Body very elongate, strongly com- 
pressed, head compressed, more or less quadrate, flat above, and with a broad groove, much narrower 
underneath, the sides nearly straight; snout very long and slender, 1.4 to 1.5 in head; eye 9.65 to 11.6; 
interorbital 9.7 to 11.3; mouth large; teeth in narrow bands, sharply pointed, the inner ones enlarged; 
lateral line following the lower edge of the body throughout; scales minute, too small to enumerate 
accurately; dorsal fin inserted behind origin of anal, about an eye’s diameter nearer the base of 
ventral than base of caudal, the anterior rays elevated; caudal fin broadly forked; anal fin similar 
to the dorsal; ventral fins rather small, inserted considerably nearer eye than base of caudal; pectoral 
fins moderate, the upper rays the longest, 3.5 to 3.9 in head. 
Color greenish with bright bluish-green reflections above; lower part of sides and abdomen bright 
silvery; snout bright red at tip; dorsal fin mostly greenish, the tip of the produced rays as well as the 
posterior rays black; caudal greenish, with more or less dusky and a pale margin; other fins mostly 
pale green, the pectorals with dusky tips. 
Only two specimens of this gar, 400 and 445 millimeters (15% and 17% inches) in length, were 
secured. The species is readily recognized by the compressed body and the straight and nearly 
vertical sides. 
A considerable variation in color exists among specimens, as shown by a series of fresh speci- 
mens examined at Beaufort, N. C. Some specimens have dark blotches on the sides, others have 
distinct black crossbars, and in still others, as in the Chesapeake Bay specimens at hand, the sides 
are plain silvery. Much variation with age in the depth of the body, too, was noticed in the Beau- 
fort specimens. In nine specimens, ranging in length from to 26 inches, the depth in the length 
to base of caudal varied from 11 in the larger fish to 24 in the smaller ones. 
This fish is carnivorous. The alimentary canal is a straight tube, without a definite differenti- 
ation between the stomach and intestine. The air bladder is very long and narrow and it has very 
thin walls. The peritoneum is silvery and it bears dusky punctulations. The bones are greenish. 
49. Genus ABLENNES Jordan and Fordice. The garfishes 
fish.” 
