82 
MEMOIBS OF TEE QVEENSLAEE MUSEUM. 
ALECTIS Rafinesque. 
Gallus Lacep^de, Hist. Hat. Poiss., iv, 1802, p. 583 (viresceiis). Not of Brisson 1760. 
Aleciis Eafiiiesqiie, Anal. Nat., 1815, i>. 81. Substitute for GalhiSj preoccupied in ornithology; 
Jordan & Evennann, Fish. North and Mid. Amer., pt. 1, 1896, p. 931. 
Blepharis Cuvier, Pegne Anim., ed. 1, ii, 1817, p. 322 (ciliaris). 
Scyris Cuvier, ibi<b, ed. 2, ii, 1829,^ j). 209 {cdexandrina) . 
GalUcJithys Cuvier & A^alenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., ix, 1833, p. 168 (gallus = indica). 
Substitute for GoUus prcoeeiqned. 
Elepliariclithys Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1863, App., p. 36. Substitute for Blepharis, 
erroneously supposed to be preocciqued by Jussieu, who had used it for a genus of plants. 
BocV elevated and strongly compressed, especially in the young, the dorsal 
and ventral contours angular, subsymmetrical or the former the higher, the 
highest points of both at the origins of the soft dorsal and anal (ins respectively. 
Scales minute and deeply embedded, so as to lie apparently absent in the adult. 
Lateral line rather strongly curved to below the middle of the soft dorsal, the 
straight portion the longer, armed ])osteriorly with a few weak scutes. Head 
large and deep, partially scaly, tlie cj*anio-nuchal keel trenchant in the young, 
becoming blunter with age. Mouth moderate and protractile, the cleft varying 
from subverlical in the young to subhorizontal in the adult; lower jaw the 
longer; maxillary exposed and dilated posteriorly. Jaws, vomer, judatincs, and 
tongue armed with viliifonu teeth, which usually disappear with age. Nostrils 
moderate and contiguous, the anterior valvular. Adipose eyelid little developed. 
First dorsal fin consisting of 5 or 6 small isolated spines, M'hieh are overgx‘own 
by musculai' tissue as age advances; soft dorsal with ill) to 21 rays, the first 
six exceedingly long and criniform; some of the immediately succeeding rays may 
also be produced, hut to a mucli less extent. Caudal fin widely forked; the 
pediinele slender. Anal similar to the soft dorsal, with ii, i 16 to 19 rays, tlie first 
four or five crinifoi;m. Pectoral long and falciform, with 18 or 19 rays. Ventrals 
inserted in advance of the pectorals, the rays greatly produced in the young, but 
rapidly decreasing in length with advancing age. (Alectis: a feminized form of 
aXeKTcop, a cock.) 
Fishes of moderate or large size, inhabiting all warm seas, varying greatly 
in appearance according to the age of the individual. Three, perhaps four, 
species. 
Key to the Queensland Species. 
flb >Suout long and pointed; eye small; maxillary not nearly extending to tlie vertical from the 
eye; gill-rakers short and stout; vent much n(‘arer ventrals than anal . . . . indica. 
aA Snout short and rounded; eye large; mrixillai’y extending to below the eye; gill-rakers long 
and slender; vent about midway between ventrals and anal . . . . . . ciliaris. 
The above characters are constant at all stages of growth, but there are 
other supplementary characters, mostly due to age, wliich deserve mention here. 
For instance, in A. indica the dorsal contour is much higher than the ventral 
^ This is the earliest date given for the genus, but Ruppell had named one of the 
species Scyris indicus during the preceding year. 
