FAMILY TRIGLIDZ — COTTUS. 53 
directed upwards and backwards, and is the longest; the second directed downward, and 
the third smallest. The opercle itself terminates in a long slender spine. The tips of the 
pectoral extend beyond the first dorsal. ‘Tail even, slightly rounded. 
Color. Above dark brown, obscurely mottled with black ; sides mottled with reddish brown 
and black; beneath yellowish white, or with patches of white and orange. Sides of the 
cheeks brazen. All the fins yellowish or light brownish, with interrupted brownish bars. 
Length, 5'0 - 6:0. 
Hinirays; D 10 s1ois) Pel bi Wedis AcwlOs Cole. 2. 
This species is frequently taken with the hook in Long Island sound, and the harbor of 
New-York. It rarely exceeds six inches in length, and is usually not more than four. Mit- 
chell’s enumeration of the fin rays nearly accords with our own, except in the caudal fin, where 
the discrepancy arose no doubt from his having included the accessory rays. A specimen in 
the Cabinet of the Lyceum, named by Dr. Mitchill himself, leaves no doubt as to the identity 
of the species. It bears, however, a striking resemblance to the C. bubalis of Euphrasen 
(Mem. Acad. Stockhol. 1786), and which is also figured by Cuvier, pl. 78. 
The geographic range of this species is at present limited to the coasts of Massachusetts 
and New-York. It probably ranges farther north. 
THE SMOOTH-BROWED BULL-HEAD. 
Corus MITCHILLI. 
PLATE XVI. FIG. 47. —(STATE COLLECTION.) 
Cottus scorpio? Mutcnit, Lit. and Phil. Soc. Vol. 1, p. 381. 
C. mitchilli. Cuvy. et VAL. Hist. Poiss. Vol. 4, p. 188. 
Characteristics. Orbits unarmed. Preopercle with four spines. Anal fin with eleven rays. 
Length two to three inches. 
Description. Body deepest at the origin of the first dorsal, and less than one-third of its 
total length. Lateral line prominent, curved, concurrent with the back. Head sloping, ex- 
cavated on the nape, broadly channelled between the eyes, and descending in an arched 
manner to the snout. Two minute spines directed backwards on the basal line of the head ; 
another pair anterior to the orbits, and so placed as to be nearly between, but rather within a 
line drawn between the anterior and posterior nostrils. Preopercle with four spines; the 
upper 0°1 and longest, directed upwards, the next backwards, the third downwards, and the 
fourth obliquely forwards : the first is furnished with a fleshy slip. Opercle with a spine above 
forming a ridge on the surface, and a pointed membranous flap beyond ; and another smaller 
directed downwards, and nearly opposite the centre of the base of the pectorals. Orbits 
0-2 in diameter, and distant half their diameters, their planes forming less than a right 
angle with the plane of the base of the lower jaw. A spine on the supra-scapulary, and 
