Fishes of Massachusetts. 327 
It differs, however, in having the dorsal plates nar- 
rower ; the lateral keels of the tail more prominent, 
and the lateral line nearer the back. 
G. apeltes. Cuv. The bloody Stickleback. 
Cuv. et Valenc. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 505. 
Several specimens of a species which I suppose 
to be Cuvier’s *apeltes," were brought me by my 
friend Rev. J. L. Russell, from Salem, where he 
found them in large numbers in creeks, to which 
the sea had access. Cuvier’s description is very 
concise, and no reference is made to the color of 
the species; his specimens were undoubtedly pre- 
served in spirits. From living specimens, I annex 
the following account : 
Of eight specimens before me, the largest is two 
inches in length, and two and three quarters lines 
in its greatest depth. All above lateral line, of a 
greenish brown color—beneath this line, which is 
very perceptible, the color is darker, and is broken 
irregularly by the extension of whiteness of abdo- 
men. In young specimens, the color is distributed 
in four or five bars, which disappear in distinctness 
in the mature fish. 
Four moveable spines in front of the dorsal fin; 
the first, one half a line in length ; the second, the 
same length ; the two last, shorter; the last, shortest. 
The Ventral spine, one line and three quarters in 
length, is serrated on its outer margin: from base 
of ventral spine, a lateral spine passes almost to the 
anus. 'T'o the under portion of the ventral spine is 
