7-2 SERIOLA CAROLINENSIS. 



median plane, and thus continues to the tail, where it is raised on a slightly ele- 

 vated carina, though the scales are not larger there than in other parts of the body. 



Colour. The head above is olive-brown, and from each orbit runs backward 

 a broad black band, to meet at an acute angle in front of the dorsal fin ; the lower 

 jaw, the pre-opercle, and opercle are silvery, tinted yellow ; the back is bluish slate- 

 colour ; the sides are golden, and the belly white ; there is a broad yellow band 

 extending from the opercle to the root of the caudal fin ; the pectoral is transpar- 

 ent, of a yellowish tint in front, and white behind; the rays of the ventral fin 

 are white below, but above they have a bluish shade, though the membrane is 

 everywhere transparent ; the anal is semi-transparent, clouded with blue, and 

 having a strong yellow tint in front ; the tips of the two or three anterior rays are 

 white ; the caudal is olive-brown, with yellowish tints, especially near its tip. 



Dimensions. The entire length, from the opercle to the tip of the tail, is equal 

 to three heads and one fourth ; the greatest elevation is seven eighths of the head ; 

 total length, two feet four inches. 



Splanchnology. The liver is large, consisting of two lobes, and a middle or transverse portion ; 

 yet these divisions are only seen on its dorsal face ; the lobes are nearly of the same size, but the 

 left is rather longer, and pointed at its posterior extremity, vfhile the right is broader and lob- 

 ulated, and both send pointed lobules forward ; the central portion is thick, with a thin posterior 

 margin, irregular, and often subdivided into short, small lobules. The gall-bladder is long, 

 slender, and only slightly increased in size, near the right lobe of the liver, in which it is 

 partially imbedded. The stomach is cylindrical, pointed behind, with thick walls, and is very 

 long, extending to the posterior fourth of the abdominal cavity. The pyloric portion is very 

 short, not half an inch long, but very thick and firm ; it begins near the anterior fourth of the 

 stomach, and has a remarkable pyloric contraction. The small intestine runs to the posterior 

 fourth of the abdomen, when it makes a short convolution forward, and then returns to end in 

 the rectum ; its walls are very thick, hard, and firm, with its raucous coat minutely reticulated ; 

 the rectal valve is very small. The coecal appendages are very numerous, ranging from forty to 

 fifty in number ; but all do not come directly from the intestine, as one root is subdivided into 

 several branches. The spleen is rather thick and long, though it is concealed, in a great measure, 

 by the small intestine. The air-bladder is conical, large, and long, as it extends the whole length 



