160 FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



in Newfoundland and New York, it is impossible to judge 

 whether it was the " tobianus" or " lancea" or either of them. 

 I trust the following description, drawn up from the largest of 

 a number of specimens sent me from Holmes Hole by Dr. 

 Yale, will serve to settle the point with some approach to ac- 

 curacy. 



Length of the specimen six and a half inches. Greatest 

 depth, half an inch ; greatest width, less than three lines. 

 Back of a dirty yellowish brown color. Top of the head and 

 upper part of the opercula, slate colored ; this slate or silvery 

 blue color passes down over the opercula in a broad band to the 

 tail, giving the fish a beautifully brilliant appearance ; beneath 

 this, the sides and abdomen are silvery. The distance from the 

 extremity of the snout to the end of the gill-covers, is to the 

 whole length of the fish as 1 to 5. Depth of the body equal 

 to one third the length of the head. Lower jaxo projecting 

 beyond the upper, and terminated by a conical tip. Gill-covers 

 silvery ; from the anterior inferior portion of the operculum, a 

 few slight striae pass obliquely upwards, backwards, and down- 

 wards to the posterior margin of the operculum. Nostrils 

 double, and situated half way between the eyes and the snout. 

 Pupil of the eye black ; iris silvery ; diameter of the eye, one 

 line. Lateral line indented and straight. 



The Dorsal fin commences two lines back of the posterior 

 angle of the gill-covers, on a line with the end of the pectorals ; 

 this fin is situated in a groove throughout its whole length, 

 and terminates two lines from the base of the caudal fin. 



The Pectorals arise under the posterior angle of the gill- 

 covers ; in length they are one third less than the head. From 

 the base of the pectorals, a slight membrane extends along 

 the whole lower part of the abdomen on both sides, scarcely 

 perceptible towards the tail. 



The Anal fin is just one third the length of the whole body. 



The Caudal fin is forked. 



The fin rays are : D. 61 ; P. 13 ; A. 28 ; C. 14. 



This species is evidently not the " lancea." To mention no 

 other character, the dorsal fin in the " lancea" commences 



