82 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
of skin across gill-membranes anteriorly, its posterior free edge crenate; no gular plate. Lateral line 
present. Belly not carinate, flattish, covered with ordinary scales. Dorsal fin moderate, in front of 
ventrals, its membranes scaly ; no adipose fin ; anal very small ; caudal widely forked. Pyloric cseca 
numerous. Parietal bones meeting along top of head. Vertebra: numerous, 42 + 28 = 70. 
A single species known, found in all warm seas. In this, and probably in related families, the 
young pass through a metamorphosis analogous to that seen in the conger eels. They are for a time 
elongate, band-shaped, with very small head and loose transparent tissues. From this condition they 
become gradually shorter and more compact, shrinking from 3 or 3J inches in length to 2 inches. 
According to Dr. Gilbert, this process, like that seen in various eels, is a normal one, through which 
all individuals pass. In the Gulf of California, where these fishes abound, these band-shaped young 
are often thrown by the waves on the beach in great masses. 
Genus 21. ALBTJLA (Gronow) Bloch & Schneider. 
The characters of this genus are included above with those of the family. 
Fig. 12 . — Albula vulpcs. 
26. Albula vulpes (Limneus). “ Macabi “JPiojo”; Lady-fish; Bone-fish; Banana- -fish. 
Head 3.4; depth 4.5; eye 7; snout 2.2; maxillary 3; interorbital 3.8; preorbital 5.6; D. 15; A. 8; 
pectoral 1.9; ventral 2.4; caudal 1.1; scales 9-70-6. 
Body elongate, robust, the trunk covered with large shining scales with membranous edges; head 
large, naked, subconic; the snout pig-like, overhanging the inferior mouth, which is armed with villi- 
form teeth; eye high in position, midway between tip of snout and edge of opercle, entirely covered, 
save for a circular central opening smaller than pupil, with an adipose eyelid; vertical fins scaled, the 
dorsal and anal very densely; caudal widely forked, upper lobe the longer; median line of back with 
one series of modified scales, which are smaller and narrower than those of body and have a long 
membranous appendage much narrower than the scale, this appendage alone exposed. 
Color, bright-silvery, darker above; faint longitudinal dark or bluish streaks. A metamorphosis 
(as in Hops) takes place in the young, previous to which they do not resemble the adult. 
Tropical seas, on sandy coasts, almost universally distributed and generally abundant, ranging 
northward on our coasts to San Diego and Massachusetts. Three examples in the collection, one 19 
inches long, the others about 12 inches, from San Juan market and Culebra Island. Used as food to 
some extent, but not highly esteemed. 
Umbarana , Marcgrave, Hist. Bras., 1648, Brazil. 
Vulpcs bahamensis (the Bone-fish), Catesby, Nat. Hist. Carolinas, pi. II, fig. 1, 1737, Bahamas. 
Esox vulpes Linnseus, Syst. Nat., ed. X, 1758, 313, Bahamas; after Catesby. 
Argentina glossodonta Forskal, Descr. Anim., 68, 1775, Djidda, Arabia. 
Macabi, Parra, Dif. Piezas, Cuba, 88, pi. 35, fig. 1, 1787, Cuba; on Umbarana of Marcgrave. 
Synodus argenteus Bloch & Schneider, Syst. Ichth., 398, 1801, Asia. 
Clupea brasiliensis Bloch & Schneider, Syst. Ichth., 427, 1801, Brazil. 
Albula conorhynchus Bloch & Schneider, Syst. Ichth., 432, 1801, Antilles; after Gronow and Plunder; Poey, Fauna Puerto- 
Riquena, 342, 1881; Stahl, 1. c., 80 and 165, 1883. 
Amia immaculata Bloch & Schneider, Syst. Ichth., 451, 1801, Central America; after Parra. 
Jiutyrinus banana Lac6pede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., V, 46, 1803, Isle de France. 
