268 Ayres^ Enumeration of the 



and, with solitary exceptions, is not seen during the winter. 

 The longitudinal bands upon this fish I do not find to present 

 a character by any means constant. They are very variable 

 in their number, and in young specimens are not found at all. 

 I have seen very many in which no traces of them could be 

 discerned, and in these the whole side is commonly marked 

 with bright vertical black bands. In others one longitudinal 

 line is partly developed, and in others still, one line complete 

 and the rudiments of another, and thus increasing till we 

 reach four complete lines, which are commonly found only in 

 full grown specimens. But even when these lines are want- 

 ing, there is no danger of confounding the species with jyiscu- 

 lenta. The vertical bands are always brighter, the color of 

 the fish is lighter, and the shape of the head is different. 



I have thus mentioned the only three species of Hydrar- 

 gira which I was able to find on the island, and which I am 

 inclined to believe are the only species occurring on the coast 

 of New York. In this I am confirmed by Dr. Mitchill and 

 Dr. Dekay. They both describe these three species and no 

 others ; by Dr. Dekay, however, they are placed in the genus 

 Fundidus, and he gives them different specific names. In this 

 I think he is in error. I have called them by Mitchill's names 

 because they agree in all points with his descriptions, and as 

 they were found in waters neighboring to those in which his 

 specimens were collected, I saw no reason to doubt thjjt they 

 were actually his species. Dr. Dekay, however, has described 

 two of them as new. His Fimdulus zehra is what I have 

 called Hydrargira fasciata. His jP, viridescens is identical 

 with H. pisculenta ; it appears to me he is decidedly wrong 

 in saying his viridescens may be Mitchill's Esox piscicidus. 

 " Sides marked by parallel pale or yellowish narrow zones," 

 does not at all correspond with Dr. Dekay's description. His 

 zebi'a is what I regard as Mitchill's piscicidus. 



His F. fasciatus is the one here mentioned as H. Jlavula. 

 In applying the niime fasciata to M'lichiW s pisciculus I followed 

 McMurtrie's Cuvier, and was perhaps led into error. Dr. De- 

 kay quotes Valenciennes and applies the same name to flavidus. 



