FISHES OF HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
201 
adult; first rays of dorsal and anal filamentous, exceedingly long, in the young much longer than body, 
becoming somewhat shorter with age; lateral line with a wide arch, its summit under origin of dorsal, 
the chord of the curved portion about equal to straight part; scutes not strong, weak in the young; 
sheath of dorsal and anal fins little developed; ventrals moderate, about 2 in head; pectoral long, 
falcate, its length exceeding that of head, its tip reaching vertical of tenth anal ray. 
Color in alcohol, bluish above, silvery on sides and below; head and middle of side with some 
yellow; a large dark blotch on opercle, a black blotch on orbit above; fins all pale, a large black blotch 
on base of the fourth to eighth dorsal rays, a smaller one on third and fourth anal rays; first 2 or 3 
produced dorsal filaments pale, next 3 or 4 black for most of their length; ventrals dusky. The above 
description based chiefly upon a specimen (No. 4039) 15 inches long from Honolulu. 
A specimen 4.6 inches long, also from Honolulu, had in life 3 curved transverse bands on side of 
body, convex anteriorly, 1 on caudal peduncle, an indistinct trace of another in front of the 3, the 
most distinct one extending from just behind dorsal angle of body to just behind ventral angle; the 
next from about middle of soft dorsal to middle of soft anal; these 3 bands somewhat dusky above and 
showing very distinct when held at certain angles, but less so when held at others; black spot near 
Fig. 78. — Alectis ciliaris (Bloch). 
base on highest portion of dorsal; ventrals dusky for two-thirds their length; upper margin of opercle 
black; anterior dorsal and anal filaments white, the next ones black. 
This interesting and beautiful fish is of wide distribution, being found on both coasts of tropical 
America, ranging northward to Cape Cod and Mazatlan. It is generally common southward, especially 
about Cuba and the Florida Keys. The many nominal species have been reduced by Liitken to 3 or 
4 — gallus and ciliaris of the East Indies, ale.randrinus of North Africa, and crinitus of America. We 
have not examined the East Indian forms, but we see no reason for doubting that ciliaris is the young 
of gallus, as has been supposed by Dr. Day and others. The name gallus was, however, originally 
applied by Linnaeus to Selene vomer. Our young examples of crinitus, moreover, agree fully with the 
figures of ciliaris. We think it therefore extremely probable that all the nominal species of this type 
are forms of Alectis ciliaris. As has been shown by Liitken (Spolia Atlantica, 197), the nominal genera 
Scyris, Blepharis, and Gallichthys, are simply stages in the development of individuals, the characters 
assigned to these genera changing with age. 
The species seems to be not uncommon among the Hawaiian Islands. It was obtained by Dr. 
Jenkins in 1889, and our collection contains a fine series of examples, ranging in length from 4 to 15.5 
inches. The Albatross obtained specimens at Honolulu and at Hanalei Bay, Kauai. 
