SCOMBERESO'CIDE, a family of fishes, of the order ple.ctognathi, having the maxillary bones united with the elongated premaxillaries at the corners of the mouth. The dying fish (exocetus) belongs to ,this family. 'lite ear-fish and the saury pike are the only species common on the British coasts. Until the plectognathi were recognized as a separate order, the scomberesocidm were reckened as belonging to the esoculte, or pike or SCOMPRID1E, a large family of acanthopterous fishes, containing. many species highly esteemed as articles of food, and some of them of great value on Recount of the abundance in which they are caught. Some of them attain a large size. They have a smooth body, covered generally with small scales, and often very beauti fully colored; the tail-fin generally large. and the tail very muscular and powerful. The gill-covers have no armature. The sides of the tail are often keeled and armed with sharp-keeled scales. The front spines of the anal fin are generally detached, and sometimes those of the first dorsal fin. The second dorsal fin is often represented by numerous finlets, as in the mackerel (q.v.). , To the same tribe with the mackerel, characterized by billets and by the want of armature on the lateral line, belong the bonito (q.v.), the tunny (q.v.), the albacore (see Tufcsre), and the seirfish (q.v.). The
importance of the mackerel fishery is well known, also that of the tunny fishery of the Mediterranean. The sword-fish (q.v.) is an example of another group, com prising only a few species, having no finlets, and remarkably characterized by the dagger-like prolongation of the muzzle. . The pilot-fish (q.v.) belongs to. a tribe having the first dorsal represented by isolated spines. There are other tribes or groups, some having the lateral line cuirassed, some not having this armature, and not having finlets nor detached spines. The dory (q.v.) and allied genera, often regarded as forming a tribe of scomheridte, have been constituted into a distinct family, EiffiCe. —The scomberidte are all marine. They are more numerous in warm than in cold some are found in very northern seas, of which the mackerel is the most important instance. It and the send (q.v.), or horse-mackerel, are the only species common on the British coasts, although several others are known as of rare occurrence.