234. NEW-YORK FAUNA. 
Color. Brown on the back, with a row of pale spots. Belly white in the middle, and semi- 
diaphanous on the right and left. Eyes orange-colored. 
Length, 14°0. 
This is a very indistinct notice by Dr. Mitchill, but there are sufficient indications that it is 
a distinct species. Some years since, I obtained in the harbor of Pernambuco (Brazil), a 
Fistularia, which I suppose to be identical with that above indicated. I annex the notes 
which I made at the time : 
“ Fistularia tabacaria? Color brownish, with round whitish spots more conspicuous in 
front. ‘Throat white. 
“ Dimensions. ‘Tube, from the mouth to the margin of the opercle, four inches. Body, 
from the gills to the fork of the caudal, seven inches and a half. Caudal thread three inches. 
Diameter of orbits half an inch; depth of head the same. Distance of the dorsals from 
above the pectorals, four and a half inches. Total length fifteen inches. 
‘“¢ Tube serrated on the lateral ridges of each side. The ridges on the vertical surface 
smooth ; those beneath minutely serrated. Lower jaw longest; both with minute distant 
recurved teeth: a strong protuberance on the symphysis. Nostrils three-tenths before the eyes. 
Eyes longitudinally oval, silvery ; the antero-superior margins raised, with a furrow between ; 
the superior posterior margin serrated; and from this margin proceeds posteriorly a strong 
serrated ridge over the opercle, which is oblong, smooth, slightly radiate on its posterior mar- 
gin. Pectorals two-tenths behind the opercle, truncated at tips. Dorsal triangular, resem- 
bling the anal, and beneath it. Lateral line rises apparently from immediately behind the 
orbits, where it forms a simple ridge, and nearly unites with that of the opposite side ; then 
descends just anterior to the ventrals, forming a row of interrupted tubes, and, towards the tail, 
a raised line. Ventrals small, distant one and a half inches behind the base of the pectorals. 
Caudal fin (if it be not a second dorsal and anal?) forked, with a slender appendage like 
whalebone, and terminating in a fine thread. D.16; P. 16; V.6; A. 16; C. 16 2. 
“ May 18, 1827.” 
I am induced to believe that this is the true tabacaria of authors, characterized by rounded 
white spots on the sides and spinous orbits ; and of course, Mitchill’s specimen, which appears 
to have been quite fresh, must be referred to this species. Its geographic range is therefore 
from Brazil to the coast of New-York, and probably even still farther north ; for Smith, in 
his History of Massachusetts, speaks of having seen two specimens of this fish from the 
coast of Martha’s Vineyard, in 41° 30’ north latitude. The specimens were eighteen inches 
long, exclusive of the caudal filament, which was one foot long. 
