FISHES OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 371 



in connection with it, I am satisfied that they should constitute a dis- 

 tinct genus, characterized chiefly by their scales, which are so much 

 higher than long, besides the particular form of their head and body 

 and their pharyngeal teeth. There are some more species of this 

 genus yet undescribed, which have been discovered in Pennsylvania 

 by Prof. Baird ; but I do not know one from Europe. 



Though the length of this species is the same as that of L, fron- 

 talis, its general form shows a marked diiference. It is fusiform, 

 rather slender but very compressed, the curve of the back being 

 very elliptical, and the abdomen making a stronger projection. 

 The height is somewhat less than a quarter of the whole length. 

 The head is small and conical ; its upper surface rather flattened 

 than convex, with a less marked declivity. The anterior part, less 

 developed than in the L. frontalis, renders the head more pointed," 

 though the snout be obtuse. The eyes are somewhat larger, and 

 nearer the upper margin of the skull. The face is less developed, 

 both jaws are of equal length. The opercular and branchiostegal 

 apparatus are less robust. The head forms about the fifth of the 

 entire length, and this slight difference in the proportions, when 

 compared with L. frontalis, accounts for the differences of the 

 general form, which we have noticed above. Again, as the conse- 

 quence of a more slender body, smaller fins are required to sustain 

 it, and there being space for separation between them they become 

 more distant from each other. Thus is the distance enlarged 

 between the extremity of the pectorals and the base of the ventrals, 

 and between the extremity of the ventrals and the anus. All the 

 fins, taken together, are smaller than in L. frontalis. Thus the 

 pectorals and the ventrals are less widened, while the length is the 

 same. The dorsal is higher than it is long ; the anal lower than the 

 dorsal, but also higher than long. The caudal is narrower, a natural 

 consequence of a smaller tail. 



Br. 3 ; D. I, 9 ; A. I, 10 ; C. 4, 1, 9, 8, 1, 4 ; V. 8 ; P. 15. 



The rays of the dorsal, caudal, and pectoral fins, present bifurca- 

 tions of the second degree only ; slight indications of three-fold 

 bifurcation are observed on the central rays of the ventrals and anal, 

 but with less regularity than in the preceding species. 



The scales are larger than those of L. frontalis, and are less 



