Fishes of Massachusetts. 491 
Mr. Jonathan Johnson of Nahant sent me a specimen 
from that place weighing 15 pounds, being two feet 
in length. And Mr. Covell, fishmonger in Quincy 
market, presented me with another, weighing 17 
pounds. The whole appearance of this fish is very 
forbidding, being, in young specimens, a soft, gelati- 
nous, tremulous mass ; in older specimens, it is much 
firmer; but in both, is covered entirely with firm, 
horny spines. My description is taken from a speci- 
men 17 inches in length. 
Length of the specimen, exclusive of the tail, 14 
inches ; length of the head, 44 inches ; greatest depth, 
from the top of the ridge on the back to the abdo- 
men, 8 inches. Color of all the upper part of the 
body, a bluish slate ; beneath, yellowish. The whole 
surface of the fish is covered with an immense num- 
ber of small stellated tubercles, studding even the 
rays of all the fins. ‘Three rows of tubercles, much 
larger than those which are universally distributed 
over the fish, are observed projecting from either 
side. One row commencing at the upper anterior 
angle of the eye, curves slightly over the humeral 
bones, and then passes in nearly a straight line to 
the tail; a second row, composed of much larger, 
Wider, more prominent tubercles, commences just 
beneath the posterior angle of the operculum, and 
terminates on the same plane with the extremity of 
the first row ; the tubercles having diminished in size 
as they approached the tail, as in the first row; a 
third row, composed of a small number of still larger 
tubercles, commences on a line with the posterior 
portion of the ventral disk, and terminates just in 
