180 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY—GENERAL REPORT. 
List of specimens. 
Catal. 
No. 
No. of 
specs. 
Sex and 
age. 
Locality. 
When col¬ 
lected. 
Whence obtained. 
Nature of 
specimens. 
Collected by— 
540 
i 
Adult.. 
Ft. Steilacoom,Puget’s Sound,Or’n 
1853 
Gov. I. I. Stevens.. 
Alcoholic_ 
Dr. Suckley... 
1. EMBIOTOCA ARGYROSOMA, Grd. 
Spec. Char —General form elongated ; head rather small, sub-conical, anteriorly rounded. Eyes circular and well developed. 
Posterior extremity of the maxillary reaching a vertical line drawn in advance of the anterior rim of the orbit. Tip of pectoral 
fins not extending as far as the anterior articulated ray of the dorsal. About sixty scales in the lateral line. Six branchiostegals. 
A brilliant argentine tint over the entire body, though made a little darker along the dorsal region by a greyish or purplish hue. 
Fins olivaceous, unicolor. 
Syn. — Embiotoca argyrosoma, Grd. inProc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. VIII, 1855,136. 
The general form of this species has a more elongated appearance, mayhap, than any of its 
congeners. It is sub-elliptical in profile, the superior and inferior outlines being regularly 
convex, slighly depressed upon the head, obliquely ascending along the insertion of the anal 
towards a rather slender caudal peduncle. 
The head is rather small, sub conical, rounded anteriorly, and contained four times and a 
half in the total length. The mouth is of but moderate size, its cleft directed slightly upwards ; 
the posterior extremity of the maxillar bone not extending as far as a vertical line drawn in 
advance of the orbit. The lips are of moderate development. The nostrils are conspicuous, 
situated towards the upper surface of the head, and nearer to the anterior rim of the orbit than 
the tip of the snout. The eye is circular and well developed ; its horizontal diameter 
constituting the fifth of the distance between the tip of the snout and the upper edge of the 
insertion of the pectorals. The opercle is quite large, and much deeper than broad. The sub- 
opercle is narrow and thin, tapering outwardly and decidedly less conspicuous than the 
interopercle. The branchiostegals, six on either side, are small and slender. 
A vertical line drawn from the origin of the dorsal fin would pass behind the insertion of the 
pectorals. The base of the spinous portion is less than the two-fifths of the soft portion. The 
articulated rays being broken off, the precise shape of the fin could not be ascertained. The 
same is the case with those of the anal; the entire base of the latter is nearly equal to the soft 
portion of the dorsal, and equal to the length of the head. Its anterior spinous rays are acute 
and slender. The caudal is deeply furcated, and constitutes about the fifth of the total length. 
The origin of the ventrals is situated opposite the space between the third and fourth spines of 
the dorsal; their tips extend nearly as far as the anterior margin of the anal. The pectorals 
are broad and well developed ; their tips extending nearly as far as that of the ventrals. 
Br. VI: VI; D IX ; A III, 24 ; C 5, 1, 6, 6, 1, 4 ; Y I, 5 ; P 18. 
The scales are well developed ; they are much larger along the middle of the flanks than on 
the dorsal, caudal, and abdominal regions. In the lateral line they are smaller than in the 
adjoining series. Six longitudinal rows may be observed between the anterior margin of the 
dorsal fin and the lateral line, and fifteen rows between the lateral line and the insertion of 
