142 [August, 



elongated and compressed, rather graceful in appearance. The head is contain- 

 ed four times and a half in the total length. The snout is pointed, the upper 

 jaw overlapping considerably the lower one. The mouth is proportionally large, 

 the posterior extremity of the upper maxillary extending to a vertical line which 

 would fall in advance of the eye. The eye itself is above the medium size, sub- 

 circular in form, and contained about four times and a half in the length of the 

 side of head. There exists a space between each dorsal, more considerable be- 

 tween the second and third, than between the first and second. The anals 

 are likewise separated by a space nearly equal to that which is observed between 

 the second and third dorsals. The ventrals are exiguous, their second ray being 

 prolonged into a filament. The pectorals are small. 



D 12. 19. 20. A 25. 22. C 5. 1. 16. 16. I. 5. V 6. P 17. 



Upper region yellowish ash; sides and belly silvery white. Minute crowded 

 blackish dots upon the dorsals, caudal and posterior anal. Anterior anal, vent- 

 rals and pectorals yellowish, unicolor. 



9. Parophrys vetulus, Grd. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. PhPad. vii. 1854, p. 140. 



10. Psettichthys sordidijs, G. General form subellipsoid ; greatest length 

 about five inches in which dimension the greatest depth enters twice and a third 

 of a time. The head constitutes about the fourth of the total length. The mouth 

 is oblique, and when shut the jaws are even. The eyes are large, subelliptical, 

 approximated, and situated on the left side; their longitudinal diameter is com- 

 prised four times in the length of the side of head. 



D 82. A 72. C 1. 1. 6. 5. 1. 1. V 6. P 1. 10. 



The scales are of medium size, equally conspicuous upon the head and oper- 

 cular apparatus. The lateral line is nearly straight, raising but slightly as it 

 reaches the head. 



Ground color of a soiled yellow; the scales are margined with blackish. The 

 fins appear as if covered with a coating of dust. 



Observations upon a collection of Fishes made on the Pacific coast of the United 

 States, by Lieut* W. P. Trowbridge, U. S. A., for the Museum of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution. 



By Charles Girard. 



It is praiseworthy for officers of the government, whether military or civil, 

 when detailed upon special duties, to devote their moments of leisure in serving 

 the cause of science. Lieut. Trowbridge, while engaged under instructions from 

 the IT. S. Coast Survey, in making tidal observations for the use of that office, 

 availed himself of such opportunities at his command to secure the fishes enume- 

 rated below, and we leave it to Naturalists to decide whether his labors were 

 at all rewarded. 



There are three main points whence specimens were obtained. 1st, Presidio, 

 on the Bay of San Francisco, where Lieut. Trowbridge himself is stationed ; 

 2d, Monterey, on the Bay of the same name, where the same gentleman made 

 several excursions; and, 3d, San Diego, where observations are conducted by 

 Corporal A. Cassidy, U. S. A. 



PERCID^. 



1. Labra.x nebulifer, G. The head which is" contained about three times 

 in the length, the caudal fin excepted, presents a subcorneal appearance, from the 

 fact of its bein.; rounded upon its upper region, and gradually sloping towards 

 the snout. The anterior part of the body, from the origin of the dorsal to the 

 occiput is continuous with the profile of the head, the middle region slightly 

 convex. The body gradually tapers backwards; the greatest depth taken 

 between the insertion of ventrals and origin of first dorsal, is a little less than 

 the fourth of the entire length, including the caudal fin ; the greatest thickness 

 measures in the same region as the depth, is a little more than the half of the 

 latter. The body, therefore, is compressed, as usual in this genus, and the 



