and its Tributaries. 17 



ly narrowed towards the tip ; upper jaw longer, terminating in 

 an oblong knob. A series of unequal teeth are placed in 

 clusters along the margin of each jaw. Eyes behind the 

 angle of the mouth. 



Body small, regularly fusiform, transversely flattened ante- 

 rior to the dorsal fin ; scales hard, corneous and arranged in 

 oblique rows. 



Dorsal Jin situated nearer the base of the tail than the 

 anal fin. 



Caudal Jin oblong, oblique, upper and lower edge ob- 

 scurely serrated. 



Anal Jill larger and longer than the dorsal. 



Pectoral Jin ovate and short. 



Length. The specimen before me is twentytwo inches j 

 I have seen them five feet in length. 



Color. Back and head brown or umber-colored, sides yel- 

 low, and belly white. 



Habitat. Lake Erie, Ohio river, and many of their trib- 

 utaries. 



D. 7 ,• C. 12 ; A. 6 ; P. 10 rays. 



Observations. This species is readily distinguished from 

 the Duck-bill and Alligator- Gars, by the great length of the 

 jaws. It maybe seen, apparently sleeping, on the surface, and 

 gently carried round on an eddy for an hour at a time. Before 

 our streams were interrupted by the construction of mill-dams, 

 it was common in most of the permanent rivulets in Ohio, 

 but it is now becoming scarce. As an article of food it is not 

 much esteemed, and is not often eaten. 



It is not a little surprising that this species should be intro- 

 duced by Richardson into his " Fauna Boreali- Americana," as 

 being previously unknown, with the name of '' L. Huron- 

 ensiSj^^ when it had been so well described by Rafinesque six- 

 teen years before. Cuvier was acquainted with Rafinesque 's 

 publication, as his occasional references to it prove, and still, 

 when a prepared specimen of this fish was sent to him by 

 Richardson, he called it " Esox osseus, Lin. Lepisosteus ros- 

 trdtuSy Nobis." M. Agassiz, however, considering it a distinct 

 species from E. osseus, requested Mr. John E. Gray, the dis- 

 3 



