Fig. 389.—Gar-Pike (Belone annulata), × ⅓. (After Cuvier and Valenciennes.)
Scombresocidae occur in all the tropical and temperate seas. Belone, Scombresox, and Hemirhamphus are found in Upper Eocene and Miocene beds of Europe, and, as stated above, Protaulopsis should perhaps be referred to this family.
Fam. 2. Ammodytidae.—Maxillary excluded from the border of the upper jaw; mouth protractile; dentition feeble or absent. Lower pharyngeal bones separate. Praecaudal vertebrae without parapophyses. Body covered with very small cycloid scales. Pectoral fins nearer the ventral than the dorsal line; ventral fins, if present, widely separated from the pectorals, without spine, with 6 rays. Dorsal and anal fins more or less elongate, formed of soft rays. Air-bladder absent.
The existing genera, Ammodytes, with 8 species, from the temperate coasts of the northern hemisphere, and Hypoptychus, from northern Japan, with a single species, are deprived of ventral fins, and their exact relations remained obscure until the structure of the Oligocene Cobitopsis revealed their affinity to the Scombresocidae, or at least their pertinence to the present suborder. The Greater Sand-Eel or Launce (Ammodytes lanceolatus) and the Lesser Sand-Eel (A. tobianus) are common on our coasts, and are remarkable for the manner in which, by means of their sharp-pointed snout, they bury themselves with great rapidity in the sand, darting in and out like arrows.
Fig. 390.—Cobitopsis acuta. (Restoration by A. S. Woodward.)
Fam. 3. Atherinidae.—Maxillary excluded from the border of the upper jaw; dentition more or less developed. Body covered with cycloid or ctenoid scales. Ribs attached to strong parapophyses. Pectoral fins inserted high up; ventral fins more or less approximated to the pectorals, with one spine and five soft rays; pelvic bones connected with the clavicular symphysis by a ligament. Two well-separated dorsal fins, the anterior small and formed, at least in part, of spinous rays. Air-bladder present.
Carnivorous Fishes, mostly marine and of small size, much valued as food, and distributed along the coasts of most tropical and temperate seas; some inhabit fresh waters. A silvery lateral band, or "stole," is usually present. About 65 species are known, referred to 14 genera: Atherina, Iso, Chirostoma, Thyrina, Atherinella, Labidesthes, Atherinopsis, Atherinops, Telmatherina, Neatherina, Pseudomugil, Rhombatractus, Aida, Melanotaenia.
Represented in the Upper Eocene of Europe by several species of Atherina and by the extinct genus Rhamphognathus.