FISHES OF HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
137 
Order L. ACANTHOPTERI. — The Spiny-rayed Fishes. 
Anterior vertebrae unmodified and without ossicula auditus; no mesocoracoid and no interclavicles 
(so far as known); border of mouth formed by premaxillary; maxillary normally distinct from it 
and always present, but sometimes coossilied with it; gills laminated; shoulder-girdle attached to the 
skull by a post- temporal, which is normally furcate and usually not coossified with the skull; hyper- 
coracoid and hypocoracoid distinct, ossified, the former usually perforate; pharyngeals well devel- 
oped, the lower rarely united, the third upper pharyngeal largest, the fourth often wanting; pectoral 
actinosts always present, opercular apparatus complete; gill-openings in advance of the pectorals; 
pectoral fins above the plane of the abdomen; ventral fins more or less anterior, normally attached 
by the pelvis to the shoulder-girdle, typically with 1 spine and 5 rays, these sometimes wanting, 
sometimes without spine or with many rays, or otherwise modified; anterior rays of dorsal and anal 
typically simple or spinous, but all the fin rays often articulate; air-bladder typically without duct in 
the adult; scales various, typically ctenoid; lateral line usually running high. To this group are 
referable the great body of existing marine fishes. 
Suborder PERCESOCES. 
Ventral fins abdominal, i, 5; branchial arches well developed, the bones all present except the 
fourth superior branchiliyal; third superior pharyngeal much enlarged; lower pharyngeals distinct; 
scales cycloid; pectorals elevated, about on a level with the upper posterior angle of opercle; spinous 
dorsal usually present. 
a. Lateral line wanting; teeth small or wanting; gillrakers present, long and slender, 
b. Anal with only 1 or no anal spine, weak; first dorsal with 3 to 8 slender, flexible spines; head elongate; vertebrae 
more than 35; stomach not gizzard-like; intestine short Atherinidse, p. 137 
bb. Anal with 2 or 3 spines, stouter; first dorsal with 4 stiff spines; head short and broad; vertebra fewer than 35, about 
24; stomach gizzard-like; intestine long Mugttidx, p. 138 
aa. Lateral line present, teeth very strong, unequal; gillrakers very short or obsolete Sphyrxnidx, p. 141 
Family X L 1 1 1 . ATHERIN1D/E. — The Silversides. 
Body rather elongate, somewhat compressed, covered with scales of moderate or small size, which 
are usually, but not always, cycloid; no lateral line; some scales often with rudimentary mucous tubes; 
cleft of mouth moderate; teeth small, on jaws and sometimes on vomer and palatines, rarely want- 
ing; premaxillaries protractile or not; opercular bones without spines orserrature; gill-openings wide, 
the gill-membranes not connected, free from the isthmus; gills 4, a slit behind the fourth; pseudo- 
branchite present; gillrakers usually long and slender; branchiostegals 5 or 6; dorsal fins 2, well sepa- 
rated, the first of 3 to 8 slender flexible spines, the second of soft rays; anal with a weak spine, similar 
to the soft dorsal, but usually larger; ventral fins small, abdominal, not far back, of 1 small spine and 
5 soft rays; pectorals moderate, inserted high; air-bladder present; no pyloric cceca; vertebrae numer- 
ous, usually about 23 -[-23=46; third and fourth superior pharyngeals coossified, with teeth. Carniv- 
orous fishes, mostly of small size, living in great schools near the shore in temperate and tropical 
seas; a few species in fresh water. All the species have a silvery band along the side, this sometimes 
underlaid by black pigment. Genera about 15, species 60. All that are large enough highly valued 
as food, hence the common name of “fishes of the king,” Peseados del Rey, orPesceRe, orPeixe Rey. 
Only one genus of silversides is known from the Hawaiian Islands. 
Genus 80. ATHERINA (Artedi) Linnaeus. The Friars. 
Body oblong, compressed; mouth large, terminal, oblique; jaws about equal, their edges nearly 
straight; maxillary extending to front of eye; premaxillaries narrow posteriorly, strongly protractile; 
villiform teeth in bands on jaws, vomer, and palatines. Species numerous, mostly European. 
Atherina (Artedi) Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., Ed. X, 315, 1758 ( hepsetus ). 
Membras Bonaparte, Fauna Italica, 1836 (no type indicated). 
