UMBRINA ALBURNUS. 137 



Synonymes. Alburnus Americanus, Gates., Carolina, &c., vol. ii. p. 12, pi. 12, fig. 2. 

 Perca alburnus, Lin., Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 482. 

 Perca alburnus, Gmel, Ed. Syst. Nat., torn. iii. p. 1311. 

 Perca-Whiting, Schoepff, Schrift. der Gesells. Nat. Freund., b. viii. p. 162. 

 Perca alburnus, Shmv, Gen. Zool., vol. iv. p. 548. 

 Umbrina alburnus. Cup. el Vol., Hist. Nat. Poiss., torn. v. p. 180. 

 Umbrina alburnus, DeKay, Zool. N. Y., part iv. p. 78, non pi. 7, fig. 20. 

 Umbrina alburnus, Storcr, Synops., p. 71. 

 Whiting, Vulgo. 



Description. The fonn of this fish is very graceful ; elongated, with the back 

 slightly arched, and the belly nearly straight. The head is large, thick, promi- 

 nent above; the snout full, rounded, and prolonged beyond the upper jaw; on its 

 inferior margin is a broad, fleshy fold, thick, entire, adherent above, thin and sub- 

 divided into four smaller sub-quadrilateral, movable lobes below ; of these, the 

 two outer are rather longer, and each has a deep pore at its base ; another large 

 pore, of sub-rhomboidal form, exists near the middle of the extremity of the 

 snout. 



The eye is large, longest horizontally, and placed two diameters of the orbit 

 from the snout, and three and three quarters from the posterior angle of the 

 opercle, with its inferior margin above the median plane of the head ; the pupil 

 is deep sea-blue, the iris golden or flame colour. The anterior nostril is small, 

 sub-round, with a movable curtain, and placed midway between the eye and 

 snout ; the posterior is very large, long, and elliptical ; it begins below the orbit, 

 and is directed upwards and backwards. 



The mouth is inferior, of moderate size, and parabolic in front ; the upper jaw 

 is very protractile, and armed with several series of small, card-like, conical, sharp 

 teeth, Avhich are directed a little backwards. On the outer side of these, and at 

 some distance from each other, is a row of much larger teeth, about fourteen in 

 number, the largest of which are in front. The lower jaw is shorter than the up- 

 per, and received within it, so as to leave the outer and larger teeth of the latter 



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