102 U. S p. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



posteriorly as the ventrals, since they remain in advance of a vertical line intersecting the anus. 

 A rudimentary ray may be observed at their upper edge. 



Adult 9 Br. V: V; D XVII + I/IO; A III, 21 ; C 3, 1, 0, C, 1, 4 ; V I, 5 ; P 16 + 1. 



Young 9 D XVI, 11 ; A III, 22 ; P 16 + 1. 



Young S D XVIII, 10 ; A III, 21 ; P 17 + 1- 



The scales are large ; the lateral line being parallel with the dorsal outline. Six or seven 

 longitudinal series of scales may be observed upon the anterior region of the back, between the 

 origin of the dorsal fin and the lateral line, and thirteen or fourteen series between the lateral 

 line and the insertion of the ventral fins. As usual, they are largest upon the middle of the 

 flanks and quite small and irregular upon a narrow strip opposite the base of the anal fin, and 

 likewise upon the insertion of the caudal. The dorsal groove extends from the highest spinous 

 ray to the fourth or fifth articulated ones ; the sheath being composed of but one row of scales. 

 Upon the cheeks we find three series of scales immediately beneath the orbit, and on the opercle 

 four vertical series 



As to the typical scales themselves, they are irregularly sub-elliptical, with the vertical 

 diameter greatest ; on the abdominal region of the flanks the anterior margin of each scale 

 appears to be more truncated than upon the back and in the lateral line. 



The color of the male sex is uniform dark or purplish brown above, yellowish or olivaceous 

 upon the sides, which are spread over with black spots ; the throat and belly being of a yellow 

 or golden liue. In the female, the back is ash colored and the flanks olivaceous, with irregular 

 black patches approximating somewhat to interrupted bands across the sides. These bands or 

 jiatches are greatly obliterated upon adult individuals. The fins in both sexes are uuicolor, 

 greyish black or olive, according to the regions where they occur. 



We have examined three specimens of this species : a pregnant female, five inches in total 

 length ; an immature female and an immature male, about three inches long. 



Sixteen young ones were found within the body of the pregnant female. Their average size 

 is from an inch and a quarter to nearly one inch and a lialf. All of tlicm had their heads in 

 the same direction as that of the mother, a circurnstance for the first time noticed. 



The embryos here described are, according to all probabilities, nearly mature, and were nigh 

 coming into the world. Their resemblance to the parent fish is striking. The body, however, 

 is more slender, more elongated, tlie depth entering about three times and a half in the total 

 length. The eye is proportionally much larger than in the adult. The scales are perfectly 

 developed, tliere being the same number of longitudinal series as in the full grown fish ; the 

 dorsal groove and sheath are present. The cheeks and opercular apparatus are already 

 protected by their scales. The vertical fins differ somewhat from those of the adult : the 

 caudal, in being but slightly concave upon its posterior margin, and the posterior rays of both 

 the dorsal and the anal extending further back, though protruding but very slightly beyond 

 the insertion of the caudal. The same number of spinous rays as iu the adult may be seen, and 

 the entire spinous portion is exactly similar. 



Upon all these embryos could be seen those black patches approximating to transverse bands, 

 wliich we have described a» characteristic of the female sex. The ground color is of a liglit 

 olive in all of them also. Thus, at an early period after their escape from parental care, the 



