﻿81 
  

  

  is 
  at 
  its 
  cxtremitj 
  ; 
  pectorils, 
  large 
  ; 
  anal, 
  wide 
  iu 
  front, 
  

   n 
  irrow 
  back 
  and 
  slightly 
  notclied 
  ; 
  caudal, 
  forked, 
  with 
  

   acute 
  lobes 
  ; 
  adipose 
  Jin, 
  a 
  little 
  bent 
  and 
  terminating 
  in 
  a 
  

   point 
  ; 
  ej/es, 
  orbicular, 
  iris 
  white 
  and 
  brown, 
  pupil 
  black 
  ; 
  

   scrtZ?5 
  equal, 
  rhomboidal. 
  Length, 
  about 
  ten 
  inches. 
  

  

  Taken 
  with 
  the 
  line 
  from 
  Boston 
  to 
  Newport. 
  Good 
  for 
  

   food. 
  B. 
  8 
  ; 
  P. 
  U-16 
  ; 
  D. 
  11 
  ; 
  V. 
  9 
  ; 
  A. 
  15 
  ; 
  C. 
  19^. 
  

  

  We 
  believe 
  this 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  new 
  species, 
  and 
  bave 
  called 
  it 
  

   viridesceus, 
  from 
  the 
  green 
  color 
  of 
  its 
  back." 
  In 
  February, 
  

   1818, 
  in 
  the 
  2d 
  Volume 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  Monthly 
  Magazine 
  

   and 
  Critical 
  Review, 
  New 
  York, 
  page 
  248, 
  Mr. 
  Mitchell 
  says 
  

   again 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  Smelt 
  : 
  <•***** 
  

   The 
  specimens 
  before 
  me 
  were 
  examined 
  on 
  March 
  7th, 
  

   181G, 
  when 
  the 
  color 
  of 
  the 
  back 
  was 
  pale. 
  They 
  were 
  

   taken 
  near 
  New 
  Loudon 
  ; 
  they 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  various 
  other 
  

   waters 
  around 
  New 
  York. 
  If 
  is, 
  beyond 
  a 
  doubt, 
  ihe 
  Smelt 
  

   of 
  ihe 
  European 
  natiiralisis. 
  There 
  liave 
  been 
  no 
  Smelts 
  iu 
  

   our 
  market 
  fur 
  several 
  years 
  until 
  now. 
  The 
  anal 
  fin 
  i.s 
  

   regularly 
  distinguished 
  for 
  possessing 
  seventeen 
  rays." 
  

   The 
  Italics 
  above 
  are 
  mine. 
  

  

  In 
  1833, 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  V. 
  C. 
  Smith, 
  in 
  his 
  Natural 
  History 
  of 
  

   the 
  Fishes 
  of 
  Massachusetts, 
  published 
  at 
  Boston, 
  says, 
  page 
  

   147: 
  

  

  "The 
  Smelt, 
  0. 
  eperlanus, 
  o{ 
  Massachusetts, 
  resembles 
  

   that 
  of 
  Europe, 
  but 
  still 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  variation 
  in 
  the 
  number 
  

   of 
  rays 
  in 
  the 
  fins. 
  At 
  the 
  South, 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  variety 
  called 
  

   menidia, 
  which 
  has 
  twenty-four 
  rays 
  in 
  the 
  anal 
  fin." 
  

  

  Dr. 
  J. 
  Richardson, 
  Fauna 
  Boreali 
  Americana, 
  London, 
  

   1836, 
  Part 
  III, 
  page 
  185, 
  notices 
  M. 
  Le 
  Sueur's 
  claim 
  of 
  a 
  

   new 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  American 
  Smelt, 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  0. 
  

   viridesceus 
  , 
  but 
  considers 
  that, 
  as 
  Cuvier 
  was 
  vrell 
  acquainted 
  

   with 
  Le 
  Sueur's 
  papers, 
  and 
  did 
  not 
  consider 
  tlie 
  differences 
  

   sufficient 
  to 
  establish 
  a 
  new 
  species, 
  he 
  will 
  retain 
  the 
  

   name 
  given 
  in 
  t'le 
  Regne 
  Animal, 
  i. 
  e. 
  eperlanus. 
  

  

  He 
  gives 
  the 
  rays 
  as 
  3. 
  7-8 
  ; 
  P. 
  14 
  ; 
  D. 
  10-0 
  ; 
  V. 
  8 
  ; 
  A. 
  

   IC) 
  ; 
  C. 
  191u 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  note 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  last 
  anal 
  ray 
  is 
  

  

  