112 FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



eyes double the diameter of the eye. Nostrils equidistant be- 

 tween the eye and the snout. Gape of the mouth large. Jaws 

 furnished with teeth ; palate and tongue also provided with 

 teeth. 



The Dorsal fin longer than high. 



The Pectorals less than one third as high as long. 



The Ventrals are situated opposite the middle of the dorsal fin. 



The Anal is more than one third as high as long ; its ante- 

 rior half, the higher. 



The Caudal fin is forked ; at its base, width to the width 

 of the expanded extremities as 1 to 2. 



The fin rays are : D. 18 ; P. 19 ; V. 9 ; A. 18 ; C. 22. 



Le Sueur describes the iris as u reddish ;" he probably saw 

 his specimens after they had been some time taken. The iris 

 of most fishes changes to a brown very soon after death. 



C. fasciata. Le Sueur. The fasciated Herring. 

 Journal Academy Nat. Sciences, vol. i. p. 233. 



For a long time, I supposed I had seen specimens of this 

 species in Boston market, with the " Alosa vernalisP but now 

 think I may have been mistaken. Not having seen an indi- 

 vidual, however, since the description of our fishes was under- 

 taken, which answers to the species of Le Sueur, I have no 

 alternative left me, but to copy his account. 



" The species which I call Clupea fasciata, (fasciated 

 Herring, ) is known under the name of alewive by the fisher- 

 men of Sandwich, and appears only in the spring ; but about 

 the end of August, 1816, we still had a sight of several indi- 

 viduals, in length one, two, four, eight, and nine inches, all 

 alike, except as to size. Body compressed ; back straight ; 

 breast and abdomen forming a bow downwards as far as the 

 tail ; seven to eight lines of a blackish blue at the sides of 

 the back, and a rounded notch at the bottom of the divisions 

 of the tail, of which the lower lobe is the longest. The entire 



