102 



Form very similar to that of Tautoga Americana. Greatest 

 depth one fourth the total length. Length of the head, five inches 

 and one fourth. Forehead protuberant, especially in large indi* 

 viduals, from an accumulation of fat immediately above the 

 eyes. 



Lips thick, loose, and fleshy. 



Teeth on the intermaxillaries and in the lower jaw alike, con- 

 sisting externally of a single row, stout and conical, of which the 

 two anterior pairs are much larger than the others, and project 

 forward ; within this external row is a band of blunt, rounded 

 teeth, not arranged in regular rows, scarcely projecting above the 

 membranes. No teeth on the palatine bones or the vomer. 

 Teeth on the pharyngeals, merely flat tessellated tubercles ; on 

 the inferior pharyngeal, a few of the anterior ones are distinct, 

 conical. 



Edges of the operculum and preoperculum destitute of spines 

 or serrations. Scales deeply imbedded, not conspicuous, elong- 

 ated, subquadrangular, covering the body, the operculum, the 

 preoperculum, and the suboperculum ; extending but slightly on 

 the vertical fins. 



The rays of all the fins are enveloped in a thickened, partially 

 opaque, membrane. 



The spinous portion of the dorsal fin is four inches and four 

 tenths in length ; the spines are stout and strong, and each one 

 is continued by a fleshy prolongation, one to two fifths of an inch 

 in extent, thus making the height of this portion of the fin about 

 an inch and a fourth. The membranous portion is two inches 

 and one fourth in length, rounded, two inches and one fourih in 

 height of the central rays. 



The anal fin, coterminal with the dorsal, is two and three 

 fourths inches in length, two and a half inches in height. 



The pectorals are nine tenths of an inch in length, two inches 

 and three fourths in height. 



The ventrals, a little posterior to the pectorals, are four tenths 

 of an inch in length, two inches and one fourth in height. 



The caudal^ slightly concave, is two inches and a half in 

 height of the external rays, four inches in breadth when ex- 

 panded. 



