84 HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



inches in length, had the whole upper part of the body of a dark brown, elegantly 

 variegated with white and dark-brown markings ; this appearance most striking upon 

 the head, about the eyes, and along the upper jaw ; it is also observable beneath the 

 chin and lower jaw. The branchial rays, as also the rays of the dorsal, pectoral, and 

 caudal fins, marked with transverse white lines, and the intervening membranes very 

 minutely dotted with black. Abdomen white. In still another specimen of a reddish- 

 brown color, transverse broad bands of sub-quadrangular form were noticeable upon the 

 back ; one of these occupied the space between the first and fifth dorsal rays ; a second 

 commenced at the seventh ray, and was continued to the fourteenth ; a third, between 

 the fifteenth and sixteenth rays ; a fourth, between the eighteenth and twenty-second ; 

 and a fifth, from the twenty-sixth to the twenty-eighth ; in the intervening spaces was 

 a whitish marking beautifully edged with black. The orbits of the eyes were marked 

 with white vertical lines. Pupils black ; irides yellowish-brown. 



Description. Body oblong, cylindrical. Surface granulated, and studded with in- 

 numerable tubercles, which are quite large upon the back, and very small or almost 

 entirely disappearing beneath the lateral line. Head large, spinous, hideous in appear- 

 ance. The length of the head, measuring to the posterior extremity of the operculum, 

 is about one fourth the entire length ; width of head across opercula equal to its length. 

 Twelve more or less prominent, blunted, spinous tubercles on each side of the median 

 line of the head ; the sharpest- pointed, which in some instances is naked, is just back 

 of the nostril ; the largest are at the posterior angles of the eyes, and just in front of the 

 dorsal fin. From several of these prominences, such as those at the anterior and 

 posterior angles of the eyes and about the snout, are suspended fleshy digitated cirrhi ; 

 those hanging over the eyes appear like a broad fringe. Orbitar cavity large. Eyes 

 moderate in size ; the distance between the posterior superior angles of the eyes rather 

 less than one fourth the length of the head ; space between them deeply depressed. 

 The suborbitar bone presents an irregularly elevated ridge. The preoperculum at its 

 posterior angle is armed with two strong spines ; the upper curves upwards and back- 

 wards ; the inferior is directed backwards and downwards. The operculum is small, 

 triangular, with an elevated longitudinal ridge at its superior part. The jaws are of 

 equal length ; from the edge of the lower jaw are suspended about a dozen fleshy 

 prolongations, similar to those attached to the prominences upon the head, but consider- 

 ably larger. Mouth very large. The teeth in the jaws, pharynx, upon the vomer 

 and palatine bones, numerous, sharp, and recurved like those of a card. The lateral 

 line, which is tubercular, commences just above the posterior angle of the operculum, 

 and, curving with the body, terminates at the base of the caudal rays. 



