POMOXIS HEXACANTHUS. 37 



Description. This fish is of an ovoidal form, much compressed, arched, thin, 

 both at the back and belly, the thickest part being just above the lateral line. 

 The head is long, thin, elevated, but incurved above the eyes, and the snout is 

 rounded, though narrow. The eye is very large, and near the facial outline, with 

 its lower margin at the median plane of the head ; the nostrils are round, very 

 near together, and about midway between the eye and snout, though on a line 

 within the orbit ; the posterior is the larger. 



The mouth, though compressed, is large, as the broad, posterior extremity of 

 the upper jaw extends beyond the middle of the orbit. The lower jaw has a lip of 

 tolerable thickness, and is so much longer than the upper as to make part of the 

 facial outline above when the mouth is shut. There is a large pore on each side 

 on the inferior face of the lower jaw. Both the upper and lower jaws are armed 

 with broad patches of small, short, conical, pointed, and slightly recurved teeth, 

 all nearly of the same size, except a few in front, which are a little longer than 

 the others. The tongue is round and free in front, with two parallel groups of 

 very minute teeth near its base. There is also a small patch of similar minute 

 teeth on the vomer ; and an elongated, extremely narrow group on each palate- 

 bone. The pharyngeals are furnished with closely-set teeth, similar in form to 

 those of the jaws, but some of them are rather larger. 



The pre-opercle is but slightly rounded at its angle, where it is marked with 

 minute serratures. The opercle is rather small, sub-triangular, its apex behind, 

 and bifurcated in two nearly equal-sized flat spines. The sub-opercle is long, 

 narrow, four-sided, and extends a little farther back than the opercle, and from it 

 hangs most of the fleshy appendix. The inter-opercle is narrow and semicircular. 

 The jugal bones are minutely serrated. The head is smooth above, but the cheeks, 

 pre-opercle, and opercle are covered with scales ; the sub-opercle has but a single 

 row of large scales ; there are several large water-pores along the sub-opercle, pre- 

 opercle, and above, behind, and under the orbit, and below the inferior maxUlary 

 bone. 



