Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 527 



but not appreciably so in others, thence increasingly convex forward. Snout 24— 3o''/o 

 of length of head, bluntly rounded. Tip of Lower jaw almost even with tip of Upper 

 JAW, or extending very slightly beyond it; rear end of upper jaw reaching to a per- 

 pendicular that varies in position from only slightly behind rear edge of eye to behind 

 eye by a distance about as long as eye or a little longer than eye. Eye 16—19 "/o of 

 head, but much larger relatively in fingerlings, being 24 "/o in one 49 mm SL, its rear 

 edge about 24-25^/0 of distance from the snout rearward to rear edge of gill cover. 

 PosTORBiTAL part of head S3~S9°lo of head. Mouth moderately oblique. Gill rakers 

 4—8 on lower limb of first arch; 7-9 on upper limb (reported). Branchiostegal rays 

 9—12 (reported). 



Teeth. Upper and lower jaw bones (premaxillaries, maxillaries, palatines, and 

 dentary portion of mandibles) each with a single row of sharp, slightly recurved teeth 

 of moderate size; also a patch on anterior end (head) of vomer on the midroof of mouth 

 (none, however, rearward along shaft of vomer) ; a single row of smaller teeth around 

 tip of tongue; also a patch of sharp but minute teeth in the pharyngeal region below, 

 and two such patches above, side by side. No teeth on bones at base of tongue. 



Rayed Dorsal fin rhomboid and with angular or slightly blunted corners, its 

 base 50-60 "/o of length of head, its origin about midway (0.47—0.50) from tip of 

 snout to caudal base, its longest ray 0.9—1.0 times as long as the base. Adipose dorsal 

 fin shaped as in Fig. 128, the midpoint of its base about 60 "/o of distance from rear 

 end of rayed dorsal base to origin of upper side of caudal. Caudal with upper and 

 lower corners abruptly rounded, the rear contour weakly concave, varying from double- 

 sinuous to uniformly arcuate, its breadth when widespread about twice the length of 

 upper and lower margins. Anal rhomboid, its anterior corner usually bluntly rounded, 

 its posterior corner angular, its outer margin weakly concave, at least in most speci- 

 mens (Fig. 128), its base 0.7—0.8 as long as dorsal base, its origin about midway 

 between origin of lower side of caudal and a perpendicular at dorsal origin, its longest 

 ray about as long as longest dorsal ray. Pelvics with midpoint of base at a perpen- 

 dicular about under midpoint of dorsal base, the longest ray about as long as longest 

 dorsal ray; the fleshy appendage beside base of pelvics conspicuous, about as long 

 as eye. Pectorals with shape, when well spread, as shown in Fig. 128, the origin a 

 little anterior to rear edge of gill cover, the longest ray a little shorter than the longest 

 dorsal ray. 



Fin rays: dorsal 11— 14 reported, anal 9—12 for Moser River Salters (Table xi). 



Vertebrae 58—62 reported; average 59.5. Pyloric caeca, average 38.4 reported. 



Color. On fontinalis from fresh water, the back and upper part of the sides are some 

 shade of olive, conspicuously marbled with paler and darker markings; the lower part 

 of the sides is marked with many pale yellowish spots interspersed with a smaller number 

 of Vermillion dots encircled (typically) with blue. The lower surface varies from grayish 

 blue through shades of pale orange and a fleshy color (reddening at spawning time) with 

 a narrow white midline. The dorsal fin is a paler olive than the back, with coarse blackish 

 vermiculations. The caudal is a darker olive (reddening more or less at spawning 



