In _Umbrina_ the chin has a short thick barbel. The species abound in the tropics, _Umbrina cirrosa_ in the Mediterranean; _Umbrina coroides_ in California, and the handsome _Umbrina roncador_, the yellow-tailed roncador, in southern California. The kingfish, _Menticirrhus_, differs in lacking the air-bladder, and lying on the bottom in shallow water the lower fins are enlarged much as in the darters or gobies. All the species are American. All are dull-colored and all excellent as food. _Menticirrhus saxatilis_ is the common kingfish or sea-mink, abundant from Cape Ann southward, _Menticirrhus americanus_ is the equally common sand-whiting of Carolina, and _Menticirrhus littoralis_ the surf-whiting. The California whiting or sand-sucker is _Menticirrhus undulatus_. [Illustration: FIG. 294.—Yellow-fin Roncador, _Umbrina sinaloæ_ Scofield. Mazatlan. ] [Illustration: FIG. 295.—Kingfish, _Menticirrhus americanus_ (Linnæus). Pensacola. ] _Pogonias chromis_, the sea-drum, has barbels on the chin and the lower pharyngeals are enlarged and united as in the river-drum, _Aplodinotus_. It is a coarse fish common on our Atlantic coasts, a large specimen taken at St. Augustine weighing 146 pounds. Other species of this family, belonging to the genus _Eques_, are marked with ribbon-like stripes of black. _Eques lanceolatus_, known in Cuba as serrana, is the most ornate of these species, looking like a butterfly-fish or Chætodon. Several fossil fragments have been doubtfully referred to _Sciæna_, _Umbrina_, _Pogonias_, and other genera. Otoliths or ear-bones not clearly identifiable are found from the Miocene on. These structures are more highly specialized in this group than in any other. [Illustration: FIG. 296.—Drum, _Pogonias chromis_ (Linnæus). Matanzas, Fla. ] =The Sillaginidæ, etc.=—Allied to the _Sciænidæ_ is the small family of Kisugos, _Sillaginidæ_, of the coasts of Asia. These are slender, cylindrical fishes, silvery in color, with a general resemblance to small _Sciænas_. _Sillago japonicas_, the kisugo of Japan, is a very abundant species, valued as food. _Sillago sihama_ ranges from Japan to Abyssinia. A number of small families, mostly Asiatic, may be appended to the percoid series, with which they agree in general characters, especially in the normal structure of the shoulder-girdle and in the insertion of the pectoral and ventral fins. The _Lactariidæ_ constitute a small family of the East Indies, allied to the _Sciænidæ_, but with three anal spines. The mouth is armed with strong teeth. _Lactarius lactarius_ is a food-fish of India. The _Nandidæ_ are small spiny-rayed fishes of the East Indian streams, without pseudobranchiæ. The _Polycentridæ_ are small fresh-water perch-like fishes of the streams of South America, without lateral line and with many anal spines.