FAMILY LOPHID — CHIRONECTES. 165 
Color. I have never seen this species in its recent state, and therefore cite Mitchill’s 
description: ‘Color pale brown, variegated along the sides with dark yellowish and ruddy, 
“so as to resemble some sorts of iron-stones or fractures of ferruginous earths; the deeper 
** dark [markings ?] cross the dorsal rays obliquely and transversely, and the caudal in con- 
* centric curves.” 
Length, 2°0. Height, 1°0. 
Hin rays} D. 12s) EealOs Vee ojs Avni O09: 
We think this species wrongly cited both by Cuvier and Storer; its radial formula differs 
considerably, as well as its surface and rounded tail. Neither of these authors appear to 
have been acquainted with Mitchill’s description. 
This small species has been brought to me from oyster boats, and had been caught in the 
harbor of New-York. 
THE SMOOTH MOUSE-FISH. 
CHIRONECTES L/EVIGATUS, 
PLATE XXVII. FIG. §3. 
C. levigatus. Cuvier, Memoires du Museum, Vol. 3, p. 423, pl. 16, fig. 1. 
Le Chironecte uni. Cuv. et Va. Hist. des Poiss. Vol. 12, p. 399. 
The Smooth Chironectes, C. levigatus. Storer, Massachusetts Report, p. 73. 
Characteristics. Surface of the body smooth. Posterior portion of the dorsal longest. Color 
as in preceding. Size of the preceding. 
Description. Surface of the body with no vestige of granules. Minute cutaneous slips 
beneath the jaws. The appendages on the anterior portion of the head as in the preceding. 
The dorsal fin with eleven rays, gradually increasing in length from the first to the last. 
Pectorals with eight rays extending beyond the membrane. Ventrals with five rays, of which 
the second and third rays are elongated. Anal elongated, and with seven rays. Caudal 
rounded, but not as much so as in the preceding species. 
Color. Irregular blackish blotches upon a brownish ground, tinged with reddish. Small 
white spots irregularly distributed on the sides. Brown transverse bars across the dorsal, pec- 
toral and caudal fins. 
Length, 2°2. Depth, 1°71. 
Bimirays; Dlr b aS an Vos tC. 9. 
I remarked on this species but three or four of the cuticular slips, so numerous on the pre- 
ceding species. The abdomen also appeared to be more tumid. ‘The processes on the head 
are almost precisely like those in the preceding species ; but the anterior ray is more robust, 
and the second appears multifid at the tip. 
The geographical range of this species extends from Charleston, South-Carolina, to Boston, 
Massachusetts, where it has been observed by Dr. Storer. 
