418 DESCRIPTION OF [November, 



August, where it appears to be permanent. Its length is 

 from three to six inches. It is good to eat. The eyes arc 

 black, the iris silvery; the upper and back part of the 

 head is gilt; the scales are deciduous. The fins are oliva- 

 ceous, the pectoral fins have fifteen soft rays, the thorcicie 

 fin one spiny and five soft rays, the dorsal six spiny and 

 fourteen soft rays, the anal six spiny and sixteen soft rays, 

 the caudal fin twenty-eight soft rays. This new genus is 

 reniaikable by the situation of the vent, and of the dorbal 

 fin, its similarity w ith, the anal fin, &,c., v/iiich characters 

 are almost peculiar to itseif in the extensive family to 

 which it belongs. 



Genus SARCHIRUS. 



Abdominal. Natural family of Esoxides. 



Body scaleless, slender, elongated, nearly cylindrical, 

 slightly compressed; vent nearer to the tail. Head nearly 

 square, jaws elongated, flat, with four rows of small un- 

 equal teeth, the lower jaw shorter and movable, the up- 

 per one immobil, with an obtuse knob at the end. Pec- 

 toral fins round, without rays; but with a thin circular 

 membrane surrounding an adipose base. Abdominal fins 

 with six rays. Dorsal fin nearer to the tail than the anal 

 fin. Caudal fin lanceolated, and decurrent underneath. 



Obs. This genus differs from Esox and Lepisosteus 

 by the singular structure of the pectoral fins, from the 

 last besides by having no scales, and from Esox by the 

 shape of the tail. Its appearance is otherwise similar. 

 The generic name mesins fieshy arms, the pectoral fins of 

 the fishes being compared to the arms of other animals. 

 I have only detected one species belonging thereto. 



