FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 23 



The Dorsal fin is situated upon the posterior half of the 

 body, at the extreme portion of the dorsal furrow. 



Owing to the imperfect state of specimen, it is impossible to 

 be entirely accurate with regard to the number of the fin rays : 

 they are, however, very nearly as follows : D. 5 ; P. 10 ; V. 

 4; A. 4; C. 16. 



This species is unquestionably the fish which was first de- 

 scribed by Bloch as the U C otitis nionopterygius," and minutely 

 described as the " Aspidophorus monopterygius" by Cuvier, in 

 the fourth volume of his " Histoire Naturelle des Poissons." 

 Lacepede formed the genus " Aspidophoroides" to receive the 

 species above described, it being the only known " Aspidophorus" 

 with a single dorsal fin. At the time this genus was formed, 

 the species of which we have been speaking was supposed to 

 have been brought from the East Indies. Cuvier, however, in 

 his description, says he has not received it from the East 

 Indies in any of his numerous collections from that quarter of 

 the world ; and finally, Richardson, in his " Fauna Boreali 

 Americana" observes, " that it has lately been discovered to 

 be an inhabitant of the Greenland Seas, so that this sub-genus 

 belongs entirely to the northern hemisphere, and chiefly to the 

 higher latitudes." 



Hemitripterus. Cuv. 



Generic characters. The head depressed, and two dorsals, 

 as in the Cottus ; no regular scales on the skin, but teeth in 

 the palate. The head is bristly and spinous, and has several 

 cutaneous appendages. The first dorsal is deeply emarginate, 

 a circumstance which has led some authors to believe they had 

 three. 



H. Americanus. Gmelin. The Sea Raven. 



Trans. Lit et Philosoph. Soc. N. Y. p. 382. 



Cuv. et Valenc. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 268. 



Fauna Boreali Americana, p. 50. 



