226 HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



GENUS II. ORTHAGORISCUS, Schn. 



Jaws undivided, forming a cutting edge. Body compressed, without spines, not 

 susceptible of inflation, and with the tail so short, and so high, vertically, that 

 they have the appearance of fishes from which the posterior part has been cut away. 

 Dorsal and anal, each high and pointed, united to the caudal. No natatory blad- 

 der; stomach small, and immediately receiving the biliary canal. 



Orthagoriscus mola, Schn. 

 The Sun-fish. 



(Plate XXXIV. Fig. 2.) 



Tetraodon mola, Lin., Syst Nat. p. 412. 



Short Tetraodon, Fenn., Brit. Zool., III. p. 172, pi. 22. 

 Diodon mola, Bloch, pi. 128. 

 Cephalisbrevis, Short Sun-Jlsh, Shaw, Gen. Zool., v. p. 437, pi. 175. 



" " " Mitch., Trans. Lit and Phil. Soc. of N. Y., i. p 471. 



Orthagoriscus mola, Short Sun-fish (Schneider), Jbntns, Brit. Vert., p. 490. 

 " ' " Griffith's Cut., x. p. 5G9. 



« " SJwrt Sun-Jish, Yarrell, Brit. Fishes, 2d edit., II. p. 462, fig. 



" " Storer,' Report, p. 170, pi. 3, fig. 1. 



" Short Head-fish, Dekat, Report, p. 331, pi. 59, fig. 193. 

 " " Storer, Mem. Amer. Aead., New Series, n. p. 494. 



" " " Synopsis, p. 242. 



Color. The back is of a dark gray color; the sides of a grayish-brown < with 

 silvery reflections ; the abdomen is of a dull, dirty white. A broad, nearly black, 

 band commences at the origin of the dorsal fin, and, running along its base, is 

 continued, in front of the caudal and anal fins, to the anus ; this band is lighter- 

 colored along the base of the anal fin, and here it is also narrower, being about 

 the same depth as at the dorsal ; but along the base of the caudal it is consider- 

 ably deeper. Pupils black, irides of a dark brown, encircled within by a silvery 

 ring. The general color of the caudal fin is similar to that of the inferior portion 

 of the sides ; its outer edge is flesh-colored. 



Description. Body oblong, compressed. Its entire surface presents a fine, unyield- 

 ing granulated surface. The depth of the body across, from the middle of the 

 pectorals, is equal to rather more than half its length ; from the tip of the dorsal 

 to the extremity of the anal, measured across the body, the distance is equal to 

 about the length of the fish. The length of the head, from the tip of the snout 

 to the base of the pectoral fin, is equal to one fifth the entire length ; the head is 

 flattened over the snout, which is obtuse and projecting. Upon the top of the 



