sphygmus (sfigmus)

[NL., sphynx, n. An occasional mi pelling of sphinx. Sphyræna (sfi-re'nä), n. [NL. (Artedi, Bloch, etc.), and of the Mediterranean, the sphyrena of the ancients, about 2 feet long, of an olive color, silvery below, when young with dusky blotches. S. argentea of the Pacific coast, abundant from San Francisco southward, about 3 feet long, is an important food-fish. S. picuda, the bar racuda of the West Indies, grows to be sometimes 7 or 8 or even, it is claimed, 10 feet long. See cut under becuna. 2. [ l. c.] A fish of this genus. Sphyrænidæ (sfi-ren'i-dē), n. pl. [NL. (Bonaparte, 1831), of which are closely related, and usually referred to of the tropical seas; but a few advance northward and southward into cooler waters, as along the United States coast to New England. They are voracious and savage, and the larger ones are much dreaded. See cut under becuna. Also Sphyrænoidei. sphyrænine (sfi-re'nin), a. [ hammerhead. 5828 tuse, brushy, and scarcely extensile, owing to the shortne of the hyoid bones, whose horns do not curl up over the hindhead; the sapsuckers, or sap sucking woodpeckers. There are several species, all American, feeding upon soft fruits and sap wood, as well as upon insects. The common yellow-bellied woodpecker of the United States is S. varius, of which a variety, S. nuchal is, is found in the west, and another, S. ruber, has the whole head, neck, and breast carmine-red. A very distinct species is S. thyroideus of the western United States, notable for the great difference between the sexes, which long caused them to be regarded as different species, and even placed in different genera. The condition of the hyoid apparatus in this genus is unique, though an approach to it is seen in the genus Xenopicus. See cut under sapsucker.