182 FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



the vicinity of Nahant the previous day, which enables me to 

 furnish the following description : Total length twelve feet ; 

 circumference of the body, at the origin of the dorsal fin, four 

 feet ; length of the tail, from its origin to its extremity, five 

 feet six inches ; the distance from the tip of snout to the origin 

 of the dorsal fin, measuring over the curve of the back, two 

 feet and a half ; depth of the body, back of the first dorsal, 

 about fifteen inches. Color of all the upper part of the body, 

 together with the fins, a dark bluish lead ; beneath, white, with 

 light bluish blotches upon the outer edges of the abdomen. 

 Surface of the skin smooth if the hand is passed towards the 

 tail ; rough, if it be reversed. 



Length of the head thirteen inches from the tip of the 

 snout to the first branchial aperture. Occiput slightly convex, 

 an arch upon the back, opposite the branchial apertures. Eyes 

 situated vertically, very moveable in their sockets, their longest 

 diameter one and three quarter inches ; pupils blue black, being 

 a longitudinal fissure, edged with golden. Snout blunted, five 

 inches from the mouth to its tip. Gape of the mouth six in- 

 ches in extent, three rows of teeth in each jaw, smooth on 

 their edges, widely separated from each other ; the first two 

 rows nearly perpendicular, back row recurved ; teeth in the 

 upper jaw, the larger ; in the lower jaw, straighter. Five 

 branchial apertures placed vertically ; the first, smallest, just 

 before the pectorals. 



The first Dorsal fin is triangular, eleven and a quarter inches 

 long, twelve and a quarter inches high. 



The second Dorsal is eight inches in front of the tail, and 

 twenty inches from the first dorsal ; three and a half inches 

 long ; three quarters of an inch wide. 



The Pectorals are twenty inches high, eleven inches long, 

 falciform ; at the posterior extremity of the fin is a small digi- 

 tation. 



The Ventrals are five and a half inches back of the dorsal 

 fin ; eleven inches long ; nine inches high. Anus large, be- 

 tween the ventrals. The claspers are sixteen and a half in- 

 ches long from the anus ; depth at their base, one and a quarter 

 inch. 



