FISHES OF NEW YORK 231 



Body elongate, moderately compressed, slender; head less com- 

 pressed than body, its greatest width equaling one half the dis- 

 tance from tip of lower jaw to nape, the lower jaw projecting 

 considerably eyen when the mouth is closed; mouth large, the 

 maxillary reaching to the vertical through the anterior margin 

 of the pupil; preorbital bone long and slender, more than one 

 third as long as the head; supraorbital as long as the eye, four 

 times as long as broad. 



The greatest hight of the body is considerably less than the 

 length of the head, and is contained fiye times in the total length 

 without caudal. The greatest width of the body is less than 

 one half its greatest hight. The least hight of caudal peduncle 

 equals the length of the orbit and about one third of the great- 

 est hight of the body. Scales small, nine in an oblique series 

 from the dorsal origin to the lateral line, 82 tube-bearing scales, 

 and eight in an oblique series from the ventral origin to the lat- 

 eral line. 



The length of the head is one fourth of the total length to 

 the end of the lateral line. The distance of the nape from the 

 tip of the snout is nearly one third of the distance from the tip 

 of the snout to the origin of the first dorsal. The length of the 

 maxilla is one third of the length of the head. The mandible 

 is one half as long as the head. Lingual teeth present. The 

 eye is as long as the snout and one fourth as long as the head. 

 Gill rakers long and slender, the longest five sixths as long as 

 the eye: there are 55 on the first arch, 35 of which are below 

 the angle. The insertion of the dorsal is nearer the tip of the 

 snout than the end of the middle caudal rays. The longest 

 ray of the dorsal equals the greatest length of the ventral and 

 is contained seven times in the total length to the end of the 

 middle caudal rays (six and two thirds times in length to end 

 of lateral line). The length of the pectoral is one sixth of the 

 standard body length. 



The insertion of the ventral is midway between the tip of the 

 snout and the end of the middle caudal rays. When the ventral 

 is extended, the distance of its tip from the vent is only one 



