356 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 
of 2°3. The pectorals with a narrow base, 3°5 long, and dilate to a wide margin. Ventrals 
quadrangular, slightly emarginate behind, and placed under a point nearer to the first dorsal 
than to the second. The anal similar in shape, but smaller than the second dorsal; placed 
under the posterior part of that fin, and extends a short distance beyond it. The caudal fin 
composed of two portions, so distinct that Mitchill has described the lower lobe as a second 
anal. The upper lobe long and narrow, gradually rising into a rounded lobe at the end of 
the vertebre. Lower lobes two; the anterior high before, emarginate and gradually declining 
behind, its margin being festooned ; the posterior lobe triangular, closely connected with the . 
preceding, and, with the upper lobe, is obliquely truncated at the tip. 
Color. Uniform dull ashen grey (plumbeous in dried specimens) ; white beneath. Upper 
edges of the dorsals and anal bordered with black, (this is most distinct in young individuals.) 
Ventrals and anals opaque white; the lower lobes of the caudal bordered with white in the 
young, and greyish in the adult. Irides greenish yellow. 
Length, 28°0. 
This small species, which, according to Dr. Mitchill, is sometimes four feet in length, is 
not uncommon on the coast of New-York. Ihave taken them not more than fifteen inches 
long, and the largest I have seen did not exceed three feet. They are called Dogfish by the 
fishermen, who usually confound under the same name this and another species. T have 
usually found their stomachs filled with the smaller crustaceous animals, and with seaweed. 
It is very distinct from the M. levis of Europe, and also from the M. hinnulus of Blainville, 
if the latter be indeed a distinct species. It is not mentioned among the fishes on the coast 
of Massachusetts, but very probably will be found to exist on that coast. I have received 
it from Rhode-Island. 
