160 HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



Description. Body oblong, compressed, becoming suddenly narrower at the base of 

 the tail. Length of the head not quite equal to one fourth the length of the fish ; head 

 above naked. Preoperculum naked beneath, finely denticulated upon its inferior edge, 

 and terminated inferiorly and posteriorly in an obtuse angle. Eyes circular, and 

 moderate in their size. Operculum terminating in two membranous points superiorly 

 and posteriorly, which do not amount to spines. Nostrils double, terminating in the 

 same cavity ; the anterior orifice is perpendicularly ovate, and situated directly in front 

 of the posterior, which is larger and crescent-shaped. Gape of the mouth large. Jaws 

 armed with prominent, sharp, lancinated teeth ; the lower jaw has but one row of these, 

 ten or twelve in number ; the upper, besides a similar row to that in the under, has a 

 row of very small teeth back of these. A row of very minute teeth at the base of the 

 tongue ; also small teeth upon the vomer. The lateral line commences just above the 

 posterior angle of the operculum, and, curving slightly at its commencement, pursues 

 nearly a straight course to the caudal rays. 



The first dorsal fin, commencing on a line with the anterior half of the pectorals, is 

 composed of seven spinous rays, the second, third, and fourth of which are longest ; the 

 rays of this fin are connected by a membrane, which proceeds obliquely backwards from 

 the posterior tip of one to the anterior centre of the succeeding ray. This fin, when 

 not expanded, is received into a groove at its base. 



Just back of the first dorsal commences the second, which is nearly as long as the 

 head ; it is composed of a very dense membrane, which envelops all the rays, the second, 

 third, fourth, fifth, and sixth of which are longest ; this fin is slightly emarginated above, 

 and its posterior termination resembles a finlet. 



The pectorals are triangular. 



The ventrals are beneath the pectorals, and are fan-shaped. 



The anal fin, similar in its structure and form to the second dorsal, arises just back of 

 the origin of that fin, and terminates nearly on a line with the termination of it. 



The caudal fin is large, and deeply forked. 



Length, about eighteen inches. 



The fin rays are as follows : D. 7 - 26. P. 17. V. 6. A. 28. C. 20. 



Remarks. On some parts of our coast this is a common species. Many years 

 since, it was held in high estimation by the aborigines of our country. For a long 

 series of years it disappeared from our waters, as may be learned from a journal 

 of the first settlement of the island of Nantucket, written by Zaccheus Macey, in 

 1792, and contained in the third volume of the Massachusetts Historical Collec- 

 tions. In this account, notice is taken of a great pestilence which attacked the 



