146 



NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part I. 



THE STRIPED BILL FISH. 



THE LING, 



per mandiljle and towards the tail. A 

 broad dark bluish brown stripe commen- 

 ces on the side of the bill, passes back- 

 ward through the eye, across the cheek 

 and operculum, and along the side and 

 through the middle of the tail to its ex- 

 tremity ; below this, commencing on the 

 lower jaw a little forward of the angle of 

 the mouth, is a bright yellowish white 

 strii)e, whicli touches upon the lower side 

 of the eye, passes through the base of the 

 pectoral fin and vanishes near the tail ; 

 still lower is a grayish brown stripe, with 

 a ligliter one along the middle of the bel- 

 ly to the vent; fins yellowish, spotted 

 with brown ; under mandible black ; eye 

 close to the angle of the mouth, and di- 

 rectly behind it; pupil black, surrounded 

 by a bright golden line ; iris brown where 

 covered by the brown stripe, but lighten 

 on the upper and lower margin. Bill flat- 

 ter and broader, proportionally, than in 

 the L. o.ri/vnis ; teetli sharp, and of differ- 

 ent sizes, 4 rows above and 2 below ; up- 

 per jaw considerably longest, terminated 

 in a knob on which the nostrils arc situa- 

 ted, and which is articulated over the tip 



of the lower jaw ; all the fins proportion- , 'y straight from the snout to the tail 

 ally much longer and more slender than abdomen capacious, and often flabby when 

 in tlie L. o.n/nrm, the dorsal and anal not distended witli food or spawn ; head 

 reaciiing the base of tJie caudal. Lateral hroad and much depressed; upper jaw 

 line straight, passing along near the up- longest, with tlie upper lip extending 

 per edge of the dark lateral stripe, con- considerably beyond the jaw ; snout poiut- 

 taining G'2 scales. Scales rhomboidal, ed ; orbit elliptical ; eyes rather small and 

 arranged in oblicjue rows. Pectoral fins ' nearly round, pupil bluish black, iris 

 situated under the membranous prolonga- i grayish golden. Above varied withbrown- 

 tion of the gill cover; ventrals nearly i ish, olive and fuliginous, darkest on the 

 medial ; height of the dorsal 1 in., length head ; sides obscurely spotted with whi- 

 .4, commences over the posterior part of ' tish ; belly yellowish, rusty-white, with 

 the anal, and extends half its length be- i ruddy tinges ; lateral line commences 

 yond it; height of the anal fin 1 inch, above the gill opening and runs a straight 

 lengtli .5; the attachment of the tail course to the middle of the tail: nostrils 

 oblique ; tail contained about (i times in t double, the anterior lengthened into short 

 the total length ; the head, including the j cirri ; the cirrus depending from the tip 



Ord E R I \l.—Malacopferygii— Sublrrachiati. 

 Fishes of this order have their gills 

 pectinated, or comb-like, and the ventral 

 fins very near the pectoral, either before, 

 beneath, or a very little behind. 



L— GADID7E, OR COD-FISH FAMILY. 

 Genus Lota. — Cuvlcr. 

 GeiKric Characters. — Body clongaicd, one 

 ana! ami two dorsal tins ; the second dorsal and 

 the anal fin long ; cirri more or less numerous. 



"\ 



THE LING OR METHY. 



Lola maculosa. — Le Sueur. 



Rich. Fauna Boroali, p. 248. Kirtlaiids Report, 196. 

 Bost. Jour. Kal. Hist. IV — 24. Gadus matulosus, 

 Le Su. Jour. Acad. Mat. Sci., Phil., 1—83. 



Description. — Body thick ; back near- 



bill, a little more than 3 times. Length 

 of the specimen before me 10.3 inches ; 

 lower jaw 2, upper 2.2, from the snout to 

 the eye 2.3, to the posterior part of the 

 gill cover 3.2, to the ventral fins 5, to the 

 commencement of the anal 7, of the dor- 

 sal 7.3; longest rays of the caudal 1.7. 



Rays, P. 12, V. 6, D. 8, A. 9, C. 12. 



History. — The only specimen which I 

 have seen of this fish was the one from 

 which the preceding description and fig- 

 ure were drav/n. It was taken in Bur- 

 lington during the drought in August, 

 1841, in a small cove, whose communica- 

 tion with the Winooski river had been 

 cut off by the subsiding of the water. 

 This fish may be the young of the prece- 

 ding species, but finding so many points 

 of difference, I have thought it best to 

 introduce a separate description. 



of the under lip reddish brown ; all the 

 fins brownish with their margins black- 

 ish; ventral fins before the pectoral, slen- 

 der and pointed ; pectorals broad and 

 rounded; first dojsal short; second dor- 

 sal commences nearly over the vent, and 

 extends to the base of the caudal ; whole 

 outline of the caudal rounded; anal fin 

 commences about an inch behind the be- 

 ginning of the second dorsal, and termi- 

 nates a little anterior to the termination 

 of the dorsal ; teeth small and card-like 

 on the jaws, palate and throat ; tongue 

 fleshy and smooth. Length of the largest 

 of three specimens before me 23 inches, 

 head, to the upper partof the gill opening, 

 4, first dorsal 1.5, second dorsal 9.5, anal 

 8.3, height of the dorsals and anal 1, of 

 the jugular and pectorals 3, cirrus on the 

 lip i.3; orbit .4 by .5, distance between 



