110 FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



> 



second dorsal fin, so small as to be scarcely perceptible ; the 

 head short ; the mouth and gill-aperture large ; small teeth on 

 both jaws ; palate and tongue smooth. 



S. Humboldtii. Cuv. The Argentine. 



Pennant's British Zoology, vol. iiL p. 286, et fig. 

 YarrelFs British Fishes, vol. ii. p. 94, et fig. 



The only specimen I have met with of this beautiful little 

 species, which is neither mentioned by Mitchell in his " Fishes 

 of Neio York" nor by Richardson in his " Fauna Boreali- 

 Americana," was brought from Nahant, by Mr. Jonathan 

 Johnson, of that place. He found it in December, 1837, alive 

 on the beach ; he had never seen a living specimen before, 

 but had repeatedly found partially decomposed specimens in 

 the stomachs of haddock. 



The entire length of my specimen is two inches one line : 

 length of the head, three lines. The back, to the depth of 

 about a line, is of a dark green color ; the si'des, including the 

 gill-covers, are of a beautiful silvery lustre. A row of brilliant 

 circular metallic colored spots runs along the belly, from before 

 the pectorals to the anus ; higher up, on the sides, another row 

 of dots parallel with these ; behind the anus a single row of 

 smaller dots of a similar character, is continued to the base 

 of the tail. Body very much compressed. The lateral line 

 almost imperceptible, nearly straight, commences at the upper 

 third of the operculum. Mouth widely cleft ; teeth small in 

 both jaws. Eyes large, one and a half line in diameter ; 

 irides silvery. 



The fin rays are : D. 10 ; P. 17 ; V. 8 ; A. 15 ; C. 19. 



FAMILY V. 





CLUPEA. Lin. 



Generic characters. Body compressed ; scales large, thin, 

 and deciduous ; head compressed ; teeth minute or wanting ; 



