234 . NEW-YORK FAUNA. 



Color. Brown on the back, with a row of pale spots. Belly white in the middle, and semi- 

 diaphanous on the right and left. Eyes orange-colored. 



Length, 14-0. 



This is a very indistinct notice by Dr. Mitchill, but there are sufficient indications that it is 

 a distinct species. Some years since, I obtained in the harbor of Pernambuco (Brazil), a 

 Fistularia, whicli I suppose to be identical with that above indicated. I annex the notes 

 which I made at the time : 



" Fistularia tahacaria ? Color brownish, with round whitish spots more conspicuous in 

 front. Throat white. 



" Dimensions. Tube, from the mouth to the margin of the opercle, four inches. Body, 

 from the gills to the fork of the caudal, seven inches and a half. Caudal thread three inches. 

 Diameter of orbits half an inch; depth of head the same. Distance of the dorsals from 

 above the pectorals, four and a half inches. Total length fifteen inches. 



" Tube serrated on the lateral ridges of each side. The ridges on the vertical surface 

 smooth ; those beneath minutely serrated. Lower jaw longest ; both with minute distant 

 recurved teeth : a strong protuberance on the symphysis. Nostrils three-tenths before the eyes. 

 Eyes longitudinally oval, silvery ; the antero-superior margins raised, with a furrow between ; 

 the superior posterior margin serrated ; and from this margin proceeds posteriorly a strong 

 serrated ridge over the opercle, which is oblong, smooth, slightly radiate on its posterior mar- 

 gin. Pectorals two-tenths behind the opercle, truncated at tips. Dorsal triangular, resem- 

 bling the anal, and beneath it. Lateral line rises apparently from immediately behind the 

 orbits, where it forms a simple ridge, and nearly unites with that of the opposite side ; then 

 descends just anterior to the ventrals, forming a row of interrupted tubes, and, towards the tail, 

 a raised line. Ventrals small, distant one and a half inches behind the base of the pectorals. 

 Caudal fin (if it be not a second dorsal and anal ?) forked, with a slender appendage like 

 whalebone, and terminating in a fine thread. D. 16 ; P. 16 ; V. 6 ; A. 16 ; C. 16 f . 



"May 18, 1827." 



I am induced to believe that this is the true tahacaria of authors, characterized by rounded 

 white spots on the sides and spinous orbits ; and of course, Mitchill's specimen, which appears 

 to have been quite fresh, must be referred to this species. Its geographic range is therefore 

 from Brazil to the coast of New- York, and probably even still farther north ; for Smith, in 

 his History of Massachusetts, speaks of having seen two specimens of this fish from the 

 coast of Martha's Vineyard, in 41° ^(y north latitude. The specimens were eighteen inches 

 long, exclusive of the caudal filament, which was one foot long. 



