the Fishes of Massachusetts. 1 79 



Cybium maculatum. Cuv. The spotted Mackerel. 



Scomber maculatus. Mitchill. Transactions of ihe Lil. and Phi losop. So- 

 ciety of New York, I. 42G, et fig. 



Cybium maculatum. Cuv. et Valenc. Hi>t. Nat. des Poissons, t. VIII. 181. 



I have the pleasure to present to this Society a specimen of 

 this species, taken on the 24th of July, 1841, in a net at Lynn, 

 together with several specimens of the Temnodon saltator. 

 This species is entirely unknown to the numerous fishermen 

 who have examined it ; and it is the only specimen I have 

 heard of as being taken in the waters of our State. Dr. 

 Mitchill described and figured it in his '' Fishes of New 

 York," under the common name of '' Spanish Mackerel," 

 which is the Scomber colias. When first taken, it is a very 

 beautiful fish, but the brilliancy of its colors is soon effaced. 



The specimen referred to, is twenty one inches in length ; 

 its greatest depth, measured from the origin of the first dorsal 

 fin, is about four inches — its greatest thickness is two inches. 



The top of the head, and the upper part of the sides of 

 the body, are of a dark leaden color ; the sides are lighter ; 

 the jaws, opercula, and abdomen are of a beautiful clear 

 white, presenting a satin like appearance — the dorsal ridge, 

 throughout its whole extent, is of a beautiful dark green col- 

 or ; twenty or more bright yellow spots, the largest being 

 three-eighths of an inch in diameter, situated above and be- 

 neath the lateral line, ornament its sides — the most anterior of 

 these spots is beneath the pectoral fins — the largest number of 

 the spots is anterior to the dorsal fin. 



The length of the head is three and a half inches, termi- 

 nated anteriorly in a sharp point. The eyes are half an inch 

 in diameter : the pupils are black, the irides are golden. The 

 anterior nostril is the smaller, and is semicircular : the posterior 

 nostril, which is situated directly in front of the centre of the 

 eye, is a transverse slit. The upper jaw terminates in a point : 

 the prominent tip of the lower jaw projects slightly beyond 

 the upper : both of the jaws are furnished with a single row 

 of prominent, sharp, triangular teeth — those situated towards 

 the angle of the jaws, the largest : the gape of the mouth 

 when expanded, measures from the tip of the jaws two 

 inches. 



