40 



Esox ornatus, were received from Mr. Charles Girard, as 

 follows : 



Description of some New Species of Fish from the State 

 of Massachusetts. By Charles Girard. 



1. PoMOTis oBESTTs. General form subelliptical, the head 

 being of a perfect continuity with the dorsal and abdominal line 

 of the body. Peduncle of the tail short. Greatest depth 

 about the middle of the length, the caudal fin excluded. 

 Mouth rather small, and its cleft, when shut, obliquely direct- 

 ed upwards. Dorsal fin composed of nine spiny rays, and 

 eleven soft ones, the latter being elongated, the posterior ones 

 extending beyond the base of the caudal. The anal has 

 three spiny and eleven soft rays, the posterior ones extending 

 likewise beyond the base of the caudal. Caudal fin posteriorly 

 rounded, and composed of seventeen rays. Ventral fins com- 

 posed of one spiny and five soft rays, their insertion being a 

 little in advance of the pectorals ; their tip extending beyond the 

 anterior margin of the anal. The pectorals, composed of eleven 

 rays, are subelliptical, rounded posteriorly, and extend as far 

 backwards as the ventrals, that is to say, beyond the anterior 

 margin of the anal. 



D. IX. 11. A. III. 11. C. 2. I. 8. 7. 1. 2. V. I. 5. P. 11. 



The scales are proportionably larger, disposed upon sixteen 

 rows across the line of greatest depth, and eight or nine rows on 

 the peduncle of the tail. The lateral line forms a regularly 

 arched curve from the upper angle of the opercular bone, to 

 beneath the posterior margin of the dorsal fin, thence almost 

 straight, and very obsolete, to the base of the caudal. 



The ground color is light, transparent olive, with five or six 

 vertical black bands. A tinge of rose color on the posterior part 

 of the abdomen. Scales generally with a V-shaped gold mark- 

 ing, smaller and more like a spot, on the peduncle of the tail. 

 Iris reddish brown, with a vertical bar of brown. Opercular 

 apparatus, greenish golden ; rest of the side of the head provided 

 with golden lines and spots. A large and subcircular black 

 patch is observed at the upper angle of the operculum, extending 



