702 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



but does not reach half yvaj to vent; the pectoral is half as 

 long as the head; the distance of the first dorsal from the head 

 equals the hight of the body; the longest ray of the first dorsal 

 equals half the length of its base; the dorsal fins are separated 

 by a narrow interspace; the second dorsal is higher than the 

 first, and the length of its base is nearly one half total without 

 caudal; the anal begins under the ninth ray of the second dor- 

 sal and extends as far back as that fin; caudal rounded; the 

 scales are deeply embedded in the skin, not imbricated. D. 13, 

 68 to 76; A. 07; V. 7; vertebrae, 22 to 23+38 to 39; pyloric 

 caeca, 30 to 138. 



The color is dark olivaceous, reticulated with blackish; the 

 lower parts yellowish or dusky; the dorsal, anal and caudal 

 fins with a narrow dark edge. 



The American burbot was first described by Le Sueur from 

 Lake Erie in 1817, and also from Northampton Conn, under a 

 different name. This common fish has received a great many 

 names, including the following: marthy, methy, losh, eelpout, 

 dogfish, chub eel, ling, lawyer, lake cusk, fresh-water cod, aleby 

 trout and mother-of-eels. 



The southern limit of this fish appears to be Kansas City Mo.; 

 according to Prof. Cope, it has been once taken in the Susque- 

 hanna near Muncy, Lycoming co.; it is extremely common in 

 the Great lakes; westward it ranges to Montana and north- 

 ward throughout British Columbia and Alaska to the Arctic 

 ocean; it is most abundant in the Great lakes and lakes of New 

 York, New England and New Brunswick; it abounds also in 

 rivers and lakes of Alaska. 



The burbot was sent from Canandaigua lake by Mr James 

 Annin jr in November 1897. It is hard to transport and still 

 harder to keep alive in captivity, being specially liable to at- 

 tacks of fungus. 



Dr W. M. Beauchamp, writing from Baldwinsville N. Y. Ap. 

 9, 1879, said that the burbot is found in Seneca river and is 

 abundant in Oneida lake; that it is caught with a hook and is 

 seldom eaten, though there is a way of making it palatable. 



