SHOUT-SNOUTED LAUNCE. 145 



three or four inches, while that one which came under my 

 notice measured a little more than eleven inches and a half; 

 but on the other hand he so far departs from his own assigned 

 length as to give a figure which measures a little more than 

 five inches and a half; and so confined has been his observation 

 of these fishes, that no other species finds a place in his book. 



Compared with a Wide-mouthed Launce of about the same 

 size, the shape of this fish was rather more stout and angular, 

 and this stoutness was carried nearer to the tail, so that it 

 became contracted more suddenly between the termination of 

 the dorsal and anal fins and the tail. At the union of the 

 body with the caudal fin also there was more decidedly a 

 heart-shaped termination than in the Wide-mouthed species. 

 But a more distinguishing difference between the two was in 

 the head, before the eyes; this portion being much less thrust 

 forward, so that the point of the upper jaw was more rounded, 

 and to a less extent capable of being bent up, and the gape 

 much less, the mystache did not extend above one third of the 

 space toward the eye; and although indeed the eye was not 

 situated immediately above the angle of the mouth, as expressed 

 in Rafinesque's specific character, it stood nearer to that point 

 than in the Wide-mouthed species. The point of the lower jaw 

 also was much less protruded. Along the belly there ran seven 

 longitudinal lines, of which those on the median line were 

 close together, and the two next were bordered with a slender 

 membrane, which may be of some use as organs of sensation. 

 The oblique lines on the sides were finely grained, but their 

 number was not counted. The dorsal and anal fins appeared 

 wider than in the more common species. Colour of the back 

 and top of the head fine blue, which does not come down to 

 the lateral line, as I have usually observed it in the Wide- 

 mouthed Launce; sides, belly, and cheeks silvery: the longi- 

 tudinal line next above the ventral line whiter than the rest of 

 this surface: the tail more expanded than in the other species, 

 with a white border on its under edge. 



This example came to me on the first of December, and 

 was distended with roe. 



VOL. Hi. U 



