96 FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



second specimen of this species, sent me by Dr. Yale ; and I 

 am satisfied it is the same fish that Mitchell described as the 

 "£]soxJlavulus,'' in his •'Fishes of New York,^^ and that Cu- 

 vier, in his notes to the Regne Animal, considers as the ^'Cypri- 

 nodonjlavulus,'^ Valenc. As the branchiostegous membrane 

 has but five rays, it cannot be a '■^Cyprinodon,''^ Lacep. the 

 species of that genus having six rays. It is, however, evi- 

 dently Mitchell's fish, incorrectly called by him an " Esox^ 

 Although placed by him in a family to which it did not be- 

 long, still, as Le Sueur's genus was formed three years after 

 Mitchell's description was drawn up, and as Mitchell accurate- 

 ly described it, his specific name has the priority ; most cheer- 

 fully, therefore, is the specific name applied by me, relinquished. 

 Mitchell calls it the " New York Gudgeon .•" by our fisher- 

 men, however, it is known by the name of '^Basse Fry,^^ from 

 its resemblance in the bands to the ^^Sii'iped Basse." 1 have 

 adopted this common name. 



The following is my description, extracted from the Journal 

 of the '' Boston Society of Natural History :" Four longitudi- 

 nal bands on each side of the body, and three transverse bands 

 between the termination of the longitudinal bands and the 

 base of the tail. The upper part of the body is of a yellowish 

 green ; on each side are four dark colored bands, running 

 almost the entire length of the fish ; the first of these is high 

 on the back ; the second passes from the upper edge of the 

 operculum, in a direct line to its termination; the remaining 

 two, commencing back of the pectoral fin, run obliquely up- 

 wards and backwards, to a point on a line with the centre of 

 the ventral fin, then turn gently down, and are continued par- 

 allel with the two other bands. 



At the base of the tail are three transverse bands of a simi- 

 lar color. All the under portion of the body is of a brilliant 

 yellow. Snout elongated. Lower jaw straight. Length of 

 specimen 5 inches 5 lines ; thickness seven and a half lines ; 

 depth one inch and one and a half lines. 



The fin rays are : D. 14 ; P. 18 ; V. 6 ; A. 12 ; C. 18. 



This fish was taken with other species of this genus in the 

 marshes of this vicinity. 



