=THE Pampanos: Carangidæ.=—We next take up the great family of Pampanos, _Carangidæ_, distinguished from the _Scombridæ_ as a whole by the shorter, deeper body, the fewer and larger vertebræ, and by the loss of the provision for swift movement in the open sea characteristic of the mackerels and their immediate allies. A simple mark of the _Carangidæ_ is the presence of two separate spines in front of the anal fin. These spines are joined to the fin in the young. All of the species undergo considerable changes with age, and almost all are silvery in color with metallic blue on the back. Most like the true mackerel are the "leather-jackets," or "runners," forming the genera _Scomberoides_ and _Oligoplites_. _Scomberoides_ of the Old World has the body scaly, long, slender, and fitted for swift motion; _Scomberoides sancti-petri_ is a widely diffused species, and others are found in Polynesia. In the New World genus _Oligoplites_ the scales are reduced to linear ridges imbedded in the skin at different angles. _Oligoplites saurus_ is a common dry and bony fish abounding in the West Indies and ranging north in summer to Cape Cod. _Naucrates ductor_, the pilot-fish, or romero, inhabits the open sea, being taken—everywhere rarely—in Europe, the West Indies, Hawaii, and Japan. It is marked by six black cross-bands. Its tail has a keel, and it reaches a length of about two feet. In its development it undergoes considerable change, its first dorsal fin being finally reduced to disconnected spines. The amber-fishes, forming the genus _Seriola_, are rather robust fishes, with the anal fin much shorter than the soft dorsal. The sides of the tail have a low, smooth keel. From a yellow streak obliquely across the head in some species they receive their Spanish name of coronado. The species are numerous, found in all warm seas, of fair quality as food, and range in length from two to six feet. [Illustration: FIG. 213.—Pilot-fish, _Naucrates ductor_ (Linnæus). New Bedford, Mass. ] [Illustration: FIG. 214.—Amber-fish, _Seriola lalandi_ (Cuv. & Val.). Family _Carangidæ_. Wood's Hole. ] _Seriola dorsalis_ is the noted yellow-tail of California, valued by anglers for its game qualities. It comes to the Santa Barbara Islands in early summer. _Seriola zonata_ is the rudder-fish, or shark's pilot, common on our New England coast. The banded young, abundant off Cape Cod, lose their marks with age. _Seriola hippos_ is the "samson-fish" of Australia. _Seriola lalandi_ is the great amber-fish of the West Indies, occasionally venturing farther northward, and _Seriola dumerili_ the amber-jack, or coronado, of the Mediterranean. The deep-bodied medregal (_Seriola fasciata_) is also taken in the West Indies, as is also the high-finned _Seriola rivoliana_. Species very similar to these occur in Hawaii and Japan, where they are known as _Ao_, or bluefishes. _Seriola lata_ is fossil in the mountains of Tuscany.