116 BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



tance in front of the second ; the anal fin is again considerably 

 larger in proportion and has three spiny, with eleven soft rays ; 

 the others are very similar to those of the perch. Cuvier's spec- 

 imen was 16 in. in length, and although the flesh is esteemed, 

 and seems abundant in its native country, little is yet known 

 regarding it." (JAEDINE, NaJt. Lib. I, Perches, 108, 1835.) 



HURO NIGRICANS Richardson, 1836. " Profile elliptical, the 

 ellipsis commencing acutely in the somewhat pointed chin and 

 conical head, but passing gradually into the thickish tail; the 

 depth of the body is greatest under the first dorsal and appears to 

 be about equal to the length of the head, or one-third of the 

 total length, excluding the caudal ; head flat above, covered with 

 scales as far as the posterior margin of the orbit ; the forehead 

 shows a slight median ridge with a more prominent lateral one, 

 and there are many fine streaks on the upper margin of the 

 orbit; the anterior suborbital bone is marked by some short di- 

 verging ridges, and the under and posterior margin of the orbit 

 is more distinctly roughened by many small irregular promi- 

 nences ; the orbit is circular, situated close to the forehead, and 

 two of its own diameters and one-half above the articulation of 

 the lower jaw ; it is also a diameter and one-half behind the ex- 

 tremity of the upper jaw, and four diameters from the point of 

 the suboperculum or most posterior part of the gill cover ; the 

 mouth acquires a somewhat vertical aspect from the chin or tip 

 of the lower jaw, projecting about a quarter of an inch beyond 

 it, and from its opening descending from the plane of the fore- 

 head, at a considerable angle as it runs backwards ; the articula- 

 tion of the lower jaw is opposite the posterior margin of the 

 orbit; the labials have a lengthened triangular form, the narrow 

 apex only passing under the edge of the suborbital bone ; the 

 posterior dilated and truncated extremity projects considerably 

 beyond the tip of the intermaxillary and extends further back 

 than the orbit ; it is further widened by the addition of a superior 

 piece, or apoplysis whose corner is rounded ; there are no pores 



