ON BALISTES VETULA Linne. 
BY S. GARMAN. 
A HANDSOME specimen of this fish was taken at Wood's 
Holl, Mass., abont the lirst of October and forwarded to 
Prof, Alex. Agassiz l)y Messrs. Geo. B. Appleton & Co. 
of Boston, the well-known dealers in fishing tackle. It 
is seldom this species of " trigger fish" is taken so far 
north, though it is common enough around Florida and the 
West Indies. The total length of the example in hand 
was nineteen inches, or foiu'teen excluding the caudal fin. 
The greatest height was nine and one-fifth inches, or with- 
out the dorsal fin seven and a half. In thickness at the 
middle of the body it was a little more than two and a half 
inches. It was evidently in very good condition, its great 
distance from its proper home notwithstanding. The for- 
mula for fins and scales stands thus : 
D. 3 + 31 ; A. 29 ; V. 22 ; P. 16 ; C. | ; L.I. 04. 
The filamentary prolongations of the anterior rays of 
the second dorsal and of the upper and of the lower rays 
of the caudal are only moderately long, those of the cau- 
dal, however, l)eing longer than the fin itself. 
The colors on this fish are darker than on others from 
St. Thomas. The scales are not so dark as the skin be- 
tween them. On the back and on the top of the head the 
brown is very dark, as, also, on the fins ; it grows lighter 
on the flanks, to light below the chest and throat. The 
blue markings arc vivid but not as numerous as on younger 
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