452 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



fin emarginate anteriorly. The ventral origin is directly under 

 the pectoral base and under the 13th spine of the dorsal, its 

 length one sixth of total length without caudal. The pectoral 

 origin is below the 13th spine of the dorsal; the fin extends to 

 below the 23d spine, its length equal to length of head without 

 snout. D. 56-64; A. 25-30; V. I, 5; P. I, 19. Scales about 175; 

 gill rakers 10, all below angle, the longest one half as long as 

 the eye. 



Colors in life brilliant, changing suddenly at death; greenish 

 above, white or golden below, with bright blue spots, the largest 

 on the back and head, forming bands on the snout; dorsal pur- 

 plish blue, with pale longitudinal lines; other fins tinged with 

 blue; caudal yellow; in spirits, silvery with blackish spots, 

 smaller than the pupil, on the sides below the lateral line. 



The dolphin inhabits all warm seas; it is common in the Gulf 

 of Mexico, and its summer range includes Cape Cod. Large 

 individuals are rare in Vineyard sound, but the young, from 2 to 

 12 inches long, are observed nearly every year in floating gulf 

 weed, usually in July and August. 



Mitchill mentions the species without referring to a particular 

 specimen; but De Kay states that an individual 42 inches long 

 was captured off the harbor of New York and presented to the 

 Lyceum of Natural History. An example, 17 inches long and 2| 

 inches deep, was caught off Sandy Hook late in August 1897 by 

 a fisherman while trolling for bluefish. 



The dolphin attains to the length of 6 feet. It is an excellent 



food fish. 



226 Coryphaena equisetis Linnaeus 



Small Dolphin 



Coryphaena equisetis LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat. ed. X, I, 261, 1758, high seas; 

 CUVIEK & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss. IX, 297, pi. 267, 1833; GUN- 

 THER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. II, 407, 1860; JORDAN & GILBERT, Bull. 16, 

 U. S. Nat. Mus. 914, 1883; JORDAN & EVERMANN, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. 

 Mus. 953, 1896. 



Lampugus punotulatus CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, op. cit. IX, 327, 1833; 

 DE KAY, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 134, pi. 11, fig. 31, 1842. 



CorypJiaena punctulata JORDAN & GILBERT, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 454, 

 1883, 



